62

Well, the wedding was spectacular and went off without a hitch, but not without Allison and Chas getting hitched -- thanks to birthday celebrant Vicky Russell for the line -- so it's time to start writing about the White Sox again. Too many games to recount since the last Update, so rather than talk about them individually, let's just take stock of where things stand.

• The Sox are still in first by 1.5 games over the Twins, despite losing three of five since the All-Star break. (Great All-Star game by the way. We watched all 15 innings. Home field advantage in the World Series made it compelling to watch, and thankfully, the A.L. pulled it out. I kept thinking that Carlos Quentin would be the hero, but it didn't happen that way.) They've been in first place every day since May 17.
• The Magic Number is down to 62.
• The Sox have one game left to play at home against Texas, with recent callup, Clayton Richard, scheduled to pitch this afternoon. Richard was 6-0 at Triple A Charlotte, with a 2.37 ERA. He's taking Jose Contreras's roster spot while Jose is on the DL.
• The Sox have an off day tomorrow and then start a 10-game road trip with three in Detroit, followed by a crucial four-game series in Minnesota, and ending with three more in KC. Now's the time to gain some ground on the Twins and Tigers.
• Jermaine Dye is back -- with a vengeance -- but, as noted, Contreras is on the DL, and Joe Crede is going to rest his stiff back today.

The Sox have turned it around a bit on the offensive side of the ledger and have more than their share of players in the A.L.'s top 15 in the big categories.

• Dye ranks 7th in batting average (.315)
• Quentin is 1st in homers (24), Dye is 4th (21), Jim Thome is 12th (18) and Crede is 15th (17).
• Q ranks 3rd in RBI (72) and Dye 14th (59).
• Q also holds down the 3rd spot in runs (67), with Dye 13th (61).
• Dye is 3rd in slugging percentage (.565), Q is 8th (.534), and Thome is just outside the top 15 at 16th (.507).
• Thome is 10th in on-base percentage (.383) and Q is 15th (.377).
• In the all-important OPS (on base plus slugging percentage), Dye is 5th (.936), Q is 9th (.911), and Thome is 14th (.889).

The Sox are going to need that hitting, as well as some good pitching, in the upcoming series. Go Sox!