81

We're halfway there. Livin' on a prayer. Take my hand and we'll make it I swear. Bon Jovi

With the Magic Number reduced from 163 to 81, the White Sox are halfway there. And lately, they've been livin' on, not a prayer, but good pitching and timely hitting. Last night was no exception as the Sox took another from Cleveland, 5-1.

Jose Contreras (The Update no longer refers to him as No Way Jose) continued his renaissance following a get-your-head-straight stint in the minors. Contreras, who is 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA in six starts since returning from Charlotte, scattered six hits and a walk over 6.1 innings. He struck out nine Indians, fading a bit in the seventh when he served up a gopher ball to Jhonny "My Parents Have Dyslexia" Peralta, for the Tribe's only run. Calling the game for Contreras as he has for every game since Jose's return was Ramon Castro. Contreras says he's got nothing against A.J., but he sure seems comfortable with Castro, having shaken him off only twice -- both times resulting in home runs.

Jermaine Dye had three hits and three RBI, doubling home Alexei Ramirez in the first inning, and singling home Scottie Pods in the third and seventh. Also in the third, Paul Konerko singled to drive in Ramirez, and Gordon Beckham plated Dye with a sac fly. Dye is now hitting .297, Ramirez is up to .279 after an abysmal start, Pods is steady at .310, Konerko has crossed the .300 mark again (.304), and Beckham has 18 RBI since joining the team on June 4.

Help is on the way, too, although unlikely this year. The Sox signed Jared Mitchell, their first pick in the recent draft. Mitchell was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 College World Series, leading his LSU team to the title. He'll start out at Class A Kannapolis, but center field on the Sox beckons. Pods will probably play the position when Quentin comes back, moving over to left when Ozzie makes his late inning defensive replacements and rests Q. But not too far down the road, if things go as planned, Mitchell will take over the job.

Detroit beat Zack Greinke last night, so the Sox remain 2.0 games behind the Tigers. The Yankees tripped up Minnesota, though, so the Twins now trail the Good Guys by 1.5 games. They get to settle it on the field, playing each other three times before the All-Star break. Go Sox!