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Last night, only the Justice League of America had more heroes than the White Sox, as the Good Guys defeated the Evil Empire in Yankee Stadium last night, 3-2.  Yeah, that's a bit of an overstatement, but after the dismal news we've had to report over the last two weeks, a little hyperbole is in order when things take a turn for the better.

Let's start with Brent Lillibridge, who for the second consecutive night, entered the game as a pinch-runner for Carlos Quentin and stayed in to play right field.  Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees' Derek Jeter weakly grounded to third-baseman Omar Vizquel, who barehanded the ball but couldn't throw out the Bronx Bomber captain.  Matt Thornton relieved starter Gavin Floyd, and after retiring Curtis Granderson, walked Mark Teixeira.  With the right-handed A-Rod coming to bat, Ozzie went to his new closer and right-hander, Sergio Santos -- he of the 0.00 ERA.  A-Rod was late on a pitch and sent a shot to the wall in right field for what looked like a sure double that would at least score Jeter from second with the tying run, if not speedy pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez from first with the game winner.  But Lillibridge, primarily an infielder who made the team because he also can play the outfield, sped to his left, caught the ball, and hung on after smashing into the right-field wall.  That brought the always-dangerous Robinson Cano to the plate, and Cano smashed a sinking liner to right.  This time, Lillibridge hustled in on the ball, dove, and snared it just before it hit the ground, preserving the second win in a row for the Sox over New York.

But if it weren't for Paul Konerko, there wouldn't have even been a bottom of the ninth for those heroics to play out.  In the eighth-inning, Paulie smashed his sixth home run of the season, plating pinch-runner Lillibridge ahead of him and seizing a 3-2 lead that proved to be the winning margin.  The big question about Konerko was whether he would be able to duplicate his stellar 2010 season and justify his big new contract.  So far, the answer is "yes."  Paulie's slash line is .319/.376/.549, which over a career gets you into the Hall of Fame.

Of course, neither Lillibridge nor Konerko would have had the chance to be a hero if not for Gavin Floyd's performance.  The Barber limited the high-scoring New Yorkers to just two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out 10.  Not surprisingly, those last two figures are good indicators that you're going to win the game.  Since 1919, teams whose pitchers have struck out at least 10 while giving up fewer than two walks have won 3,132 games and lost only 986, for a .760 winning percentage.  For the Sox, the figures are even more telling: 110 wins and 21 losses for a .840 winning percentage.  Most important, the Good Guys got the win last night.

The Sox remain in last and gained no ground on first place yesterday, as Cleveland also won to remain 5.0 games ahead of the South Siders.  But the Sox are now only 2.5 games out of second and have an actual winning streak.  (By the way, Jerry Reinsdorf's other team finished off their first round opponent.  Congrats, Bulls.  Unfortunately, the Hawks fell in overtime to the Canucks.  Nice comeback last night and in the series, though.)  Go Sox!