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Let's talk about A.J. Pierzynski for a minute. Last night, he hit a walk-off double to drive in Alexei Ramirez in the 13th inning at the Cell, giving the White Sox a 4-3 win over the Athletics. The player we used to hate when he was on the Twins (and the player his teammates hated when he was on the Giants) is having a hell of a season. Besides playing with fire in his belly -- something the Sox could use more of -- he's batting .314, good for seventh best in the American League. And he's durable, closing in on 1000 innings caught for the eighth consecutive season. Just 24.1 more innings behind the plate and he'll join Jason Kendall as the only catchers to have reached a 1000 in each year since 2002. A tip of the cap to A.J.

Speaking of a tip of the cap, Freddy Garcia deserves one. He gave the Sox a Quality Start last night, tossing six innings of five-hit, two-run ball. He'd have picked up the win if Tony Pena hadn't blown the save by allowing the A's a run in the eighth inning. Picking up Pena looks better and better each time he takes the mound, doesn't it?

But that one run wouldn't have mattered if the Sox had hit with runners in scoring position. Last night, they were 1 for 16 in that situation. Not exactly the way to get it done, which explains why the Sox aren't getting it done most days.

The odd thing is against whom they're not getting it done. Even with last night's win over Oakland, the Sox have only a 26-33 record against the five teams in the A.L. with less than a .500 record. They have only an 8-7 advantage over the Royals and Indians, the two worst teams in the Central. They're 1-7 when playing the Blue Jays, 4-5 with the O's, and 5-7 versus the A's. (Ever notice how many people pronounce "versus" as if it were the word "verse"?) Not beating up on the teams that stink is a sure way to stink yourself.

The Tigers lost, so their lead over the Sox is back to 6.5 games, but their Magic Number over the Good Guys is down to 17. The Sox have two chances to take the Central: slim and none, and slim is packing his bags. But as Bluto Blutarski told us, "It's not over until we say it's over!" Go Sox!