152

You can put it on the board -- yes!  Hawk Harrelson wore out his signature home-run call Friday night, as the White Sox deposited four balls over the fence, including a two-out, walk-off, solo shot by Andruw Jones, in a 7-6 win over Seattle.  Jones celebrated his birthday with two round-trippers (his fifth and sixth of the year), and Carlos Quentin (his third) and Paul Konerko (his sixth) also brought longball gifts to the party.  All six Sox wins this season have featured multiple homers for the South Siders.  (As part of our renewed efforts to remain positive, we'll refrain from making any comments about small ball -- for now.)

The game was a seesaw affair.  The Sox jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, increased it to 2-0 in the second, but then allowed the Mariners to tie it up, 2-2, in the third.  The Good Guys immediately regained the lead at 3-2 in the bottom half of the frame, improved it to 4-2 and then 5-2 in the sixth, but watched it quickly slip away in the seventh.  Gavin Floyd, who was pitching fairly well until then, could retire only one batter in the inning before J.J. Putz came in with the bags loaded.  Putz got the second out, but then grooved one to Jose Lopez, who connected for a Grand Slam to give the M's a 6-5 edge.  Matt Thornton came on to get the last out, and in the Sox half of the seventh, Alex Rios doubled home the tying run.  Thornton held Seattle in check through the eighth and ninth innings -- about the upper limit for the normally short reliever -- striking out five, throwing 20 of 28 pitches for strikes, and setting the stage for Jones ninth-inning game-winner.

The win allowed the Sox to remain six games behind the Twins, who won again last night.  Looks like the loss of Joe Nathan hasn't hurt Minnesota too much so far.  The victory also reduced the Magic Number to 152.  The Sox try for the team's second two-game winning streak of the season today against the Mariners.  Go Sox!