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Sweeeeep!  The White Sox finished off the Pirates in Pittsburgh last night, 5-4, to win their third game in a row, their seventh in their last eight, and their eighth in their last 10.  Sure, you can say it was only the lowly Bucs that they beat, but even with the win, the Sox are only 12-15 in games against clubs with a losing record, while a more respectable 19-19 versus teams that play at least .500 ball.

The Good Guys again managed to do it without hitting a homer.  Last night marked the fifth consecutive game that the Sox failed to put one in the seats -- the longest homerless stretch since August, 2000.  The Pale Hose did accumulate 11 hits, with Juan Pierre, Omar Vizquel, Carlos Quentin, and A.J. Pierzynski each collecting two.  Pierre added a diving catch of a Delwyn Young sinking liner late in the game to help shut down a Pirates' comeback attempt.

Mark Buehrle, who was starting because Jake Peavy needs some extra days off to rest his shoulder, got the win by limiting the Pirates to two runs on six hits and a walk over 7.1 innings.  After some scary moments when Sergio Santos and Matt Thornton allowed Pittsburgh to get back in the game, Bobby Jenks fashioned a scoreless ninth to pick up his 13th save.  The win was Buehrle's fifth of the year (against six losses) and made him the all-time winningest pitcher in interleague play, with 22 victories, one ahead of Jamie Moyer and Mike Mussina.  Buehrle is 3-0 this year and 8-0 in his last 11 starts against the National League.

Speaking of the N.L., interleague play continues tonight with the Sox facing the Washington Nationals for the first time ever (although they did face the Nats' predecessors, the Montreal Expos, back in 2004, going 1-2 up in Canada).  The Nats will start Phenom Stephen Strasburg (I capitalize it because I believe it has officially become part of his name) in front of what surely will be a huge crowd, including yours truly.  You can't overestimate how crazy folks here in the D.C. area are about Strasburg, and his first two starts have only added fuel to the fire.  Gavin Floyd will give it a go for the Sox, and Floyd has a pretty decent interleague record himself -- 5-2, with a 1.99 ERA in nine career starts.  Jayson Nix won't be around to see the game though, as Kenny Williams waived him yesterday to make room for Dayan Viciedo.  The Cuban youngster is batting .288 with 13 home runs and 31 RBI in the minors, and has been brought up to add a little punch to the team.  He's been playing first base, but don't be surprised to see him at third too.

Since the Twins lost last night, the Sox are only 6.5 games behind in the Central Division race.  A sweep of the five-games-under-.500 Nats would return the Good Guys to the break-even mark and go a long way towards getting them back in the race.  But to sweep, you've got to win the first game, so Merry Strasmas and Go Sox!