82

Paul-ie! Paul-ie! Paul-ie! The White Sox captain played the role of Cap'n Crunch last night, depositing three balls into the seats to lead the Sox to a 10-6 come-from-behind (twice) win over the Indians. Konerko's home runs were his 14th, 15th, and 16th of the year, and included a Grand Slam (the eighth of his career). Paulie drove in a career high seven runs in the game, as all but one Sox score came via Konerko's and Alexei Ramirez's blasts. Every starter other than Brian Anderson had at least one hit, making life easy for Mark Buehrle.

Buehrle earned the win (his ninth against only two losses) by throwing seven innings of seven-hit, three-run ball. The Sox lone All-Star had his usual command, striking out three and walking only one. He did allow two home runs, but you can't spell BueHRle without HR. Aaron Poreda, who took over from D.J. Carrasco, gave up his first run ever in his seventh appearance of the season. The rookie's ERA jumped from 0.00 to 1.17, just like that. Don't be surprised if Poreda gets sent down to Charlotte, however -- not because he's bad, but to get him more work -- now that the Sox have acquired Arizona's Tony Pena. On the other hand, Poreda could wind up with Clayton Richard's spot in the rotation. Only Ozzie and Kenny know.

The win elevates the Sox to three games over .500 and keeps them two games behind the Tigers. The Sox did pass the Twins, moving a half-game ahead of Minnesota, which lost to the Yankees. The Magic Number is 82 and there are two more games against the Tribe before the Sox face the Twins to end the first half of the season. Go Sox!