10

For the ninth time this season, Gavin Floyd notched a win following a White Sox loss. Floyd earned his 16th win (against only seven losses) by throwing seven innings of two-run ball, yielding nine hits and no walks, and striking out four in a 6-2 victory over the Yankees. The key play was a fifth-inning, 12-pitch, bases-loaded strikeout of Jason Giambi, who had narrowly missed a grand slam a few pitches earlier. Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks (again pitching in a non-save situation) preserved the win with an inning each of scoreless relief.

The offense was in high gear, with every starter except Jerry Owens garnering a hit. Juan Uribe had three (increasing his batting average to .258), Paul Konerko contributed two (raising his average to .247), and Alexei Ramirez smashed his 18th home run. All told, the Sox had 12 hits and improved their winning percentage when outhitting the opposition to .827 and when scoring more than three runs to .815.

While all this was going on in Yankee Stadium -- by the way, last night, Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for most hits ever in that park -- the Twins lost a wild one in Cleveland. After trailing by seven runs, they came back to take a 9-8 lead in the eighth inning. The Indians rallied in the bottom half of the frame to tie it up and won it in the 11th on a three-run walkoff home run off Joe Nathan, the first game-ending homer he's ever given up.

Minnesota's loss and the Good Guys' win reduced the Magic Number to 10 and increased the division lead to 2.5 games. The Twinkies face Cliff Lee tonight, so the Tribe has a good shot at helping the Sox out again. We, on the other hand, have Clayton Richard pitching, so we may need the help. At least Ozzie has set up his rotation so that Vazquez, Buehrle, and Floyd will face the Twins in Minnesota next week. Go Sox!