51

You don't lose many games when you hold the other team to one run, but then again, you don't win any games when you get shut out. The White Sox managed to do both last night and this morning -- the game ended around 2 a.m. here in the East -- falling to the Mariners in the rubber game of the series, 1-0 in 14 innings.

Mark Buehrle got back on track, shutting out Seattle for eight innings and limiting the M's to six hits and a walk. Matt Thornton (2.0 IP), Bobby Jenks (2.0 IP), and Scott Linebrink (1.0 IP) followed suit. Unfortunately, Tony Pena gave up two hits and a walk and allowed the winning run to score on a pinch-hit single by Ken Griffey, Jr. with two outs.

The Sox had plenty of chances to win, but failed to take advantage of them. For example, in the 10th inning, Alex Rios singled Scott Podsednik to third, where Pods proceeded to get picked off for the second out, effectively ending the threat. There were other missed opportunities, but honestly, it's too painful to talk about.

Suffice it to say the Sox could have picked up a game on Detroit, who lost again, but didn't, leaving them 2.0 games behind the Tigers. The third-place Twins gained on both teams ahead of them with a win to creep within 2.0 games of the Sox and 4.0 games of the Bengals. The Sox head off to Oakland with a Magic Number of 51 and a chance to prove they actually can beat the A's on the road. Go Sox!