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Business travel kept us from reporting since last Wednesday, so let's catch up on what the White Sox did while we were gone:

• June 17: After the first game in the series with the North Siders was rained out, the Sox made hay while the sun shined (sort of) behind John Danks's fine pitching effort -- 7.0 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 9 K, 0 BB -- and an inning of scoreless relief by Scott Linebrink (remember that name) and one by Bobby Jenks, who notched his 15th save. Scott Podsednik collected two hits and an RBI, Alexei Ramirez added a home run, and Chris Getz tripled, scored, and drove in a run. Final score: Good Guys 4, Bad Guys 1.
• June 18: Gavin Floyd matched Danks in most of the important categories -- 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H -- but not in getting the win. Pitching with a 5-1 lead, Linebrink gave up back-to-back homers to Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto in the eighth inning to allow the Scrubs to tie the game. Matt Thornton was equally ineffective, allowing the Wrigleys to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 loss. Ramirez, Brian Anderson, Getz, and Gordon Beckham each had two hits, but they were wasted by the bullpen's failure to close out the game. Losing a game after leading by four runs in the eighth inning is almost unheard of in the modern game with relief specialists, but the Sox managed to pull it off on Thursday. The rubber game in the series will be played in September. Let's hope it still matters for the Pale Hose.
• June 19: We were at Nationals Park watching the Nats beat the Blue Jays in 11 innings and scoreboard watching the Sox lose to the Reds, 4-3. Getz's first career home run, which gave the Sox a 2-0 lead, and Paul Konerko's 300th career homer for the Sox both went for naught. So did a third consecutive Quality Start by Jose Contreras -- 6 IP, 3 R, 2 K, 0 BB -- and Aaron Poreda's scoreless inning of relief. The Sox could have used some more hits; four is not enough. Hell, according to the old TV show, Eight Is Not Enough, so four sure shouldn't be. Bad start to the series.
• June 20: Saturday's contest was billed as the Civil Rights Game. Each team wore the uniforms from 1964 when the Civil Rights Act became law, and Hank Aaron, Bill Cosby, and Muhammed Ali were on hand. The Sox fell behind early, trailing 5-0 before rallying to pull out a 10-8 win. A.J. Pierzynski tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth with a home run, which made up for an earlier throwing error that had allowed a run to score. Ramirez atoned for being picked off base by totaling as many hits (four) as the entire team had the night before, including a three-run bomb in the sixth inning. Beckham hit the first of what we hope will be many home runs in his White Sox career, and Pods added his second of the year. Scottie had three hits, B.A. and Dewayne Wise each had two to go along with the Missile's four. Jenks picked up his 16th save to preserve the win.
• June 21: White Sox Dads were happy as their sons delivered on Fathers Day. Mark Buehrle cruised to his seventh victory (but first in a month) by throwing seven innings of five-hit, shutout ball. Hot/Cold Linebrink was cold this time, giving up a run, but earning a hold and setting the table for Jenks to rack up his 17th save (out of 19 chances). Linebrink faced five batters and managed to give up a hit, walk a man, hit one batter, and throw a wild pitch. It doesn't seem fair that he gets a hold for that performance. Pods had two slap bunt hits and scored two runs. Beckham raised his batting average to .196, which means he is now hitting his weight (190). And Paulie knocked in the 1000th RBI of his career. Sox won 4-1 to take the series from the Reds.
  

Unfortunately, during all of this, the Tigers were winning four in a row, so the Sox find themselves still in third place in the Division, 5.0 games behind Detroit. The Magic Number is now down to double digits. And the Good Guys are beating up on the N.L. Central, going 7-4 in their 11 games so far. Jim Thome will be able to DH again as the Sox head home. Go Thome! Go Sox!