120

It's hard to gain ground on the Twins when you can't put together a winning streak, and it's hard to put together a winning streak when you triumph only 18% of the time in the game after a win.  By losing to the Texas Rangers last night, the White Sox fell to 4-18 in games following a victory.  They've had only three winning streaks all season -- a two-gamer on April 11 and 12 against the Twins and Blue Jays; a three-game sweep of Seattle on April 23-25; and another two-game skein against the Marlins on May 21-22.  By contrast, the Sox have had seven losing streaks --  two four-game stretches and five sets of back-to-back losses.  That's no way to get it done.

Speaking of done, I'm wondering if Mark Buehrle is.  Buehrle lost a 4-0 lead by giving up 12 hits and six runs last night in 5.1 innings and saw his record drop to 3-6 and his ERA rise from 4.38 to 4.84.  I had been encouraged by Buehrle's last two outings in which he had shut out the opposition over 10.1 innings, but he reverted to the form he showed in his six starts before that -- 29 earned runs in 36.1 innings for a 7.18 ERA and a record of 0-5.  Don't be surprised to see Mark pitching for his beloved St. Louis Cardinals later this year.  The change of leagues would probably do him a lot of good.  A big part of me would hate to see him go, but hopefully, Kenny will get something good if he does deal him.

The Sox lost a chance to pick up ground on the Twins, who also lost last night, so they remain 8.5 games behind Minnesota.  The Magic Number drops to 120, courtesy of the Piranhas' loss.  Let's win today and avoid an eighth losing streak.  Go Sox!