148

The Update is back after missing a day due to a business trip, but don't worry, you didn't miss much while we were gone. When we left, the White Sox were tied for first in the Central Division with Detroit and KC. After all three teams won on Wednesday and lost on Thursday, they're still tied. The Sox's Magic Number shrunk to 148, but that's also the Tigers' and Royals' Magic Number, so it's really no significant change.

John Danks was the lead story in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the O's. (That's how Baltimore spells it. We guess it's a contraction rather than a misuse of the possessive form. Grammar lesson over, back to the Sox game.) He dazzled the Birds, giving up only one run on four hits and no walks in seven innings pitched. His ERA now stands at 0.95. The Update loves Mark Buehrle and Gavin Floyd (Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon, not so much), but thinks that Danks is the best pitcher on the team. Lest you think we're crazy, we won't tell you we think he's the best pitcher in baseball, but we're not saying whether we don't think that or whether we're just not telling you we do. Anyway, we're glad he's pitching between Contreras and Colon because we think the bullpen is going to need the rest between the long workouts those two are going to give the relievers.

Last night, Colon proved our point. He lasted only three innings (63 pitches, five runs, eight hits, two walks) before being pulled. No predictions on when he and Contreras fall out of the rotation, but don't be surprised if Ozzie decides to go with someone younger (there aren't any pitchers on the team who are older, are there?) to save the relievers. But the work didn't seem to affect D.J. Carrasco (3.0 IP), Octavio "Mr. 0.00 ERA" Dotel (1.0 IP), and Bobby "I needed the work" Jenks (1.0 IP), each of whom shut out the Orioles. The Sox offense was anemic, though, pushing across only two runs on seven hits. One scary note from last night: Carlos Quentin left the game after being plunked on the left hand by a pitch. Q says he'll be ready to go, but we really can't afford to lose him.

The road trip (5-4) was a coming out party for Chris Getz, the Sox second sacker and latest leadoff man. He went 11 for 25 and raised his average for the season to .333. Brian Anderson did well enough on the trip -- 7 for 26 -- to hang on to the center field job, and it appears that Jerry Owens (0 for the season) is no threat to take it away from him.

Now it's back home to face the American League leading Toronto Blue Jays. The Good Guys always have trouble with them, and this season the Jays are 12-5 overall and 5-2 on the road. Not exactly what the doctor ordered, but the weather looks good, so our bats should come alive.

One last thing. There's a new feature on the blog site. Please sign up there for the automatic email notification of new posts on The Update. It's easy to do and we don't want you to miss a thing. And if everyone does that, we won't have to send an email letting you know when there's something new. Go Sox!