22 (7*)

Thank you, Blue Jays, but if you don't mind, we're going to stop rooting for you now. The Jays finished off their sweep of the Twins yesterday, causing Minnesota to fall 1.5 games behind the White Sox and the Magic Number to drop to 22. Now, both the Sox and Twinkies head home, where they have outstanding records. The task facing the Good Guys is more daunting than the one confronting the Piranhas. We're up against the Angels, who have the best road record in baseball at 42-26. They play the Tigers, who are 31-38 away from Comerica.

It's up to Mark Buehrle (11-11, 4.12 ERA) tonight to get us off to a good start, and you have to like the pitching matchup. The Halos trot out spot starter Dustin Moseley, who is 1-3 with a 7.15 ERA. On Saturday, it's pretty even, with Gavin Floyd (15-6, 3.61) facing off with John Lackey (11-3, 3.10). The only good news there is that Lackey was John Lackluster in his last start, absorbing a rare loss in which he lasted just five innings and gave up nine hits. Sunday clearly favors the Angels. Joe Saunders (14-7, 3.69) takes the mound against our spot starter, Clayton Richard (2-3, 3.69). The Sox will probably need a lot of runs to win that one. At least we're at the Cell, where we hit well and our record is 46-22. Go Sox!

*seven days until our future grandson's due date