130

Small ball? We don't need no stinkin' small ball. What we need is home runs, and last night, we got 'em. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye supplied the firepower as the Sox exploded for a 7-4 win over the Twins. Paulie's sixth homer of the year, a two-run blast, and J.D.'s tenth of the season, a Grand Salami, came as part of a seven-run fourth inning. (The inning also featured an RBI single by Josh Fields that almost wasn't -- Alexei Ramirez slid into third for no apparent reason before getting up and scoring.)

Hitting the longball is the tried and true formula for White Sox success. The Sox have hit 40 home runs in 2009. Their record in the 20 games with roundtrippers is 14-6, which works out to a .700 winning percentage. In the 19 homerless games, the Good Guys are a pathetic 3-16 for a .158 percentage. It's even more pronounced in multi-homer games like last night's: 10-4 for a .733 percentage. In case you're wondering, they've had one 4-HR game, three 3-HR games, eleven 2-HR games, and five 1-HR games. C'mon, the Sox play in one of the top home run parks in the Majors, although surprisingly, they've hit only 17 at home (in 18 games) compared to 23 on the road (in 21 games). They need to embrace the bomb.

Another bright spot last night was the pitching. John Danks picked up the win to even his record at 3-3. Danks lasted 5.2 innings (111 pitches) while allowing only two earned runs (four overall) on five hits and three walks. It's an easy decision to turn it over to the bullpen when you've got Octavio Dotel, Matt Thornton, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby Jenks ready, willing, and able to preserve the win. The Four Horsemen together allowed no runs on one hit, posting their sixth, seventh, and third holds and ninth save, respectively.

The Sox have now won two in a row over the slumping Twins -- nice to use that modifier in connection with a team other than the Sox -- to pull even with them in the standings. Both of last year's Central Divsion leaders are 5.5 games behind the Tigers, who refuse to lose. The Magic Number is down to 130, but you knew that from the headline, didn't you? Go Sox.