5

The Magic Number remains at 5 as the White Sox lost the opener of a three-game set against the Twins in the Metrodome, 9-3. Javier Vazquez came up "little," or whatever the opposite of coming up big is, giving up five runs in only four innings on the mound. Good thing Javy got four days rest this time or he might have really pitched poorly. But Javy wasn't alone in stinking up the joint. Clayton Richard gave up two runs in two innings of relief, and Boone Logan topped (or bottomed?) that, allowing two runs in only one-third of an inning out of the bullpen. The Sox hitters fared no better, accumulating only six hits. The offense was so anemic, it didn't even leave that many men on base (4) because it didn't get that many men on base to begin with.

Let's face it. The Sox are not going to win many games when they score just three runs. As a matter of fact, they've won only 10 games all year when scoring three or fewer in a game -- none when they score zero (obviously) or one (not obvious, but not very surprising); four games when they score two runs; and six when they score three. The win totals shoot up when they score four or more: four runs, 11 wins; five runs, seven wins; six runs, 18 wins; seven runs, nine wins; eight runs, six wins; nine runs, eight wins; ten runs, six wins; 11 runs, three wins; 12 runs, one win; 13 runs, five wins; 15 runs, one win; and 16 runs, one win. That makes 17 times they have won a game with 10 or more runs -- what it would have taken to beat the Twins last night -- they just didn't come close last night. You may have noticed that the Sox have not won a game by scoring 14 runs in a game all season. Let's hope they fill in that blank in their record tonight or tomorrow.

Speaking of tonight and tomorrow, the Sox have the pitching edge in won-loss records and ERAs. They need to take advantage of that. The Good Guys still have a 1.5 game lead and the Twins Magic Number is 8, compared to our 5. We predicted the Sox would win one of these three games and ultimately win the division by beating Detroit on the day after the regular season ends for everyone else, so things are still on track for that.

Speaking of Magic Numbers, the Sox aren't the only one whose Magic Number is 5. Les Reiter has five more days of work left before he retires from CNA. (For those of you who thought Les retired a long time ago, well ....) Les and Bob Koza were the first recipients of The Update back on May 3, 2005, when it just an email. The Magic Number that day was down to 134 after the Sox won and the Twins lost. And we all know what happened that season. Let's hope that's an omen for tonight and the post-season. Go Sox! Go Les!