143

"He gone."  If you like hearing Hawk Harrelson's other catch phrase, then last night's game was for you.  Jake Peavy notched nine strikeouts while shutting out the Royals on four hits and a walk over seven innings to pick up the win last night in the Cell.  Peavy finally pitched like we had hoped he would before giving way to Matt Thornton (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R), who preserved the whitewash, and Scott Linebrink (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R), who didn't, leading to a final score of 5-1.

Holding Kansas City to one run meant that the Sox didn't need a multi-homer game to win -- only the second time this season that's happened -- but they put their 11 hits to good use.  The Good Guys did get a solo home run from Alexei Ramirez over the Looie Aparacio graphic in left-center.  The Missile, who also singled, was one of four Sox to garner multiple hits. Andruw Jones, 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI, Alex Rios, 3 for 4, also with a double and two RBI, and A.J. Pierzynski, 2 for 4, were the others.  (A tip of the hat to Update reader Mike Sehr, who insisted before the season that Rios would have a good year.  Rios's .299 batting average is tops on the team for players with more than 15 at bats.)   Juan Pierre stole two more bases to raise his total to an even dozen, and Jones swiped his fifth of the season.  Major League leader Paul Konerko did not hit a home run, which actually qualifies as news these days.

Justin Bieber, in town for a taping of Oprah, threw out the first pitch.  It would have hit a left-handed batter, but at least he (sort) of got it to the plate.  The young singer wore a Sox jersey with "Bieber" and "10" on the back.  That number, of course, was Sherm Lollar's number.  Sherm is the reason I'm a Sox fan, so I pay attention to those things.  I assume Bieber chose that number because that's his age -- not really, but he looks like he's 10.

The win reduces the Magic Number to 144 and moves the Sox into third place in the division, 6.0 games behind the Twins and 4.5 behind the second-place Tigers.  Gavin Floyd faces the Royals tonight as the Sox try to put together a winning streak.  Go Sox!