142

Thursday's a travel day for the White Sox, so no game scheduled. The Royals, however, played the Blue Jays and picked up a win to move into sole possession of first place in the A.L. Central. The Sox and Tigers are a half-game back. KC's win doesn't affect the Good Guys' Magic Number of 142 though. That's figured by subtracting the number of Sox wins and other team's losses from 163, that is, 163 - 11 (Sox wins) - 10 (Royals losses) = 142.

On Friday night, the Sox face former teammate Brandon McCarthy, who started 10 times in place of Jose Contreras during the 2005 season. B-Mac went to Texas in the trade that brought John Danks to the Sox. It'll be the first time McCarthy has started against the Sox since he departed.

One of the stars of the 2005 season will be back on the Sox on Friday, as Scott Podsednik rejoins the team after a brief stint in Charlotte. Two players who came to the Sox after B-Mac left -- Jim Thome and Chris Getz -- will also be available to play after sitting out with injuries. Thome's heel is healed enough for him to be able to "play" (or whatever you call what a DH does), and Getz's fractured middle finger is allegedly ready. Go Sox!