112

Since the name of this blog is White Sox Magic Number Update, given the pitiable state of the team, it's tempting just to report the Magic Number -- 112 -- and stop there. We'll resist that temptation and say a little more, but this will be short and (not so) sweet. After all, you don't want to read about it any more than we want to write about it.

The Sox are slumping. Again. They've lost five out of six to Oakland and Cleveland, the two worst teams in the American League. (No, the Sox haven't earned that title yet, but they seem to be going after it with a vengeance.) Dropping three of four against the A's and two of three against the Indians is no way to get ready for the biggest -- literally, it's five games -- series of the year, against the first-place Tigers. A Sox sweep (how's that for unbridled optimism?) allows the team to overtake Detroit by a half-game. A Tiger sweep leaves the Sox 9.5 games behind and in real trouble.

There's a double header today, with Clayton Richard pitching the afternoon game, and Jose Contreras, whom Richard replaced in the rotation, on the mound in the nightcap for the Sox versus Armando Galarraga and Jeremy Bonderman for Detroit. (By the way, MLB Network was replaying Game Five of the 2005 ALCS over the weekend, and despite knowing how it came out, we had to watch -- if only to remind ourselves how important Contreras was to the team back then. Like the rest of the starters, Jose pitched a complete game, and his gem won the pennant that ended the 46-year drought.) Tomorrow, it's Mark Buehrle against Dontrelle Willis, the matchup that most favors the Good Guys. Wednesday, John Danks faces off against Justin Verlander. And Thursday, Gavin Floyd, who started in the one game the Sox won during this slide, goes to the hill against Edwin Jackson.

So far, the Gordon Beckham experiment is showing disastrous results. Beckham is 0 for 10 in three games and sat out Saturday's win in favor of Josh Fields, who homered in that contest. We can only hope that this premature call-up (after only 59 minor league games) hasn't irreparably harmed Beckham's psyche.

Let's switch up our closing line in the hopes of changing the team's luck. Just win, baby!