78

Nick Swisher did it again last night. What's "it"? In this case, it's multiple things. Swish led the Sox to victory again (9-7 over Cleveland), homered again (10th and 11th of the season), hit a grand slam again (2nd in four games), and hit one home run from each side of the plate again (2nd time this year; first time a Sox player has ever done it twice in a season). Swisher's home runs -- the second was a solo shot -- along with Jim Thome's three-run blast (his 16th in 2008, 523rd overall), accounted for eight of the nine runs the Sox scored and added to their lead in percentage of runs scored via the four-bagger. So much for Ozzieball. This is much more like Earl Weaver's approach to the game -- play for the three-run homer.

Gavin Floyd delivered another Quality Start, limiting the Tribe to seven hits and three earned runs (plus one unearned run) in his six innings. Most impressive though were his 10 strikeouts. Octavio Dotel, Nick Masset (who was on the mound when Joe Crede's 16th error led to two unearned runs), and finally Matt Thornton (who picked up his first save) preserved the win for Floyd, his 10th, against only four losses. His 10 wins and the A.L.'s third best ERA going into last night's game give Floyd a good shot at being named to the All-Star team.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Sox, who, we've told you before, are streaky. This marked the fourth time this season they've won at least five games in a row. All told, 31 of their 47 wins (66%) and 21 of their 35 losses (60%) have come as part of streaks of three games or more. The wins come much easier at home, where the Good Guys are now a sizzling 28-11 (.718 winning percentage). The streak that's most important to keep alive, however, is days in first place. Today marks the 46th day in a row (since May 17) that the Sox have held down the top spot in the Central Division. While it matters only if they're there after the last day of the season, keeping the first-place streak alive guarantees that result. With a Magic Number of 78 and a 2.5 game lead on the Twinkies, things are looking up. We need to keep it that way. Go Sox!