73

BS. No, not that BS (although it comes to mind after last night's game); this BS: Blown Save. Bobby Jenks blew his third save of the season, wasting an atypically good performance by Clayton Richard and handing Tampa a 3-2 win.

Jenks, who has been struggling of late -- he loaded the bases on Monday night before pitching out of that jam and has given up 10 hits and four walks in his last five appearances -- imploded. He allowed two runs on two hits, two walks, a hit batsman, and a sac fly in his one inning of "relief."

Richard deserved better. Pitching for his spot in the rotation, Richard permitted the Rays only one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Before last night, the White Sox were 42-1 when leading after eight innings, so it was not unreasonable to expect a win with a 2-1 lead. Batterymate A.J. Pierzynski says Jenks's problem is he's missing "command." When we were in our formative baseball years, "command" was known as "control." Later, it became known as "location." Whatever you call it, Jenks ain't got it right now. But let's not be too hard on him, just yet. He's still an All-Star quality closer, even if he didn't make this year's team. And he's the best we've got.

The Sox offense was quiet, but did enough to get the win if Jenks had done his job. A.J. Pierzynski, who had three hits on the evening, and Carlos Quentin singled. Gordon Beckham, who also had three hits and now has the highest batting average on the team at .304 (not counting Richard's .333), doubled A.J. home. Scott Podsednik drove in Q on a fielders choice to give the Sox the lead that should have stood up.

In roster news, Update favorite, Aaron Poreda, was sent down to Charlotte to make room for Carlos Torres. Torres, a 15th round pick in the 2008 draft out of Kansas State, is slated to pitch in place of John Danks, who has a blister on his left index finger. Torres is 8-4 with a 2.20 ERA for Charlotte and has almost as many strikeouts (96) as innings pitched (98) and more Ks than hits allowed (72). It's supposed to be a one-game call-up, but these things have a funny way of playing out.

The Tigers won, so their lead is back to 2.0 games. Hopefully, we won't look back on this game as the one that kept us from overtaking Detroit for the Central Division title. It's pretty clear that the Wild Card won't come out of the Central, so winning the division is the only way to make the post-season. Go Sox!