155
The weather was hot (83 degrees) on Sunday and so were the White Sox, as they completed their four-game series with the Rays by winning their third game of the set.  And they should have won all four.  The Update already reported on Thursday's victory, so let's focus on what happened over the weekend.

On Friday, the Good Guys gave the game away.  Despite reaching double digits in hits again, and despite holding a three-run lead in the ninth inning, the Sox allowed Tampa Bay to rally for five runs -- all of them unearned -- and notch their first win of the season.  Alexei (he should have won the Gold Glove last year, but not on Friday) Ramirez committed a throwing error, Juan Pierre dropped a fly ball, and Matt (I'm not sure I like this closer job) Thornton gave up a three-run homer in a debacle of major proportions.  John Danks wasn't so hot either, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings, but home runs by Mark Teahen and Gordon Beckham led an attack that was good enough to win.

On Saturday, the Sox bounced back.  Phil Humber, starting in place of Jake Peavy contributed a Quality Start by giving up only one run (and four hits) in his six-inning stint.  There's talk of keeping Humber in the rotation even after Peavy comes back by going to a six-man rotation, at least on a short-term basis.  Let's see how quickly Peavy makes it back to the Sox -- his next start is for Triple A Charlotte on Wednesday -- before we evaluate this possibility.  Anyway, A.J. Pierzynski drove in a couple of runs, and Morel and Becks had one each.  Hits were relatively scarce, as the Sox got only seven of them, far below their usual offensive (I mean that in a good way) output.

The finale on Sunday was a masterpiece by Gavin Floyd.  The Barber continued to be effective, so Ozzie kept him in for eight innings.  Floyd scattered four hits and allowed only one unearned run (due to his own throwing error).  Tony Pena tossed a four-pitch, no hits, no runs. ninth inning to preserve the win.  Paul Konerko paved the way for Floyd by clubbing two solo home runs -- Don't look now, but Paulie is actually earning that big new contract.  I wouldn't have thought he'd be close to matching last year's MVP-caliber performance, but so far, so good.  Let's keep an eye on his stats in 2011.  Becks added another dinger, and Morel doubled home Mark Teahen and Juan Pierre singled home Morel.  

The Sox are heading into a series with the A's, who are the next team to visit the Cell.  You readers in Chicago, go to a game, will ya?  The Sox are playing good ball and the weather was great, but the attendance was only 23,436 on Sunday.  Reinsdorf spent the cash to put a good product on the field; let's show our appreciation by actually going to some games.  Hey, the Good Guys are tied for second place with the Royals, only a game behind the Indians and three games ahead of the Tigers and Twins.  And they're 6-1 in day games this season, after leading the majors with a 6-1 record in day games (they were the best in baseball last year when the vampires were asleep -- 31-18).  The other thing you've got to look forward to is the Sox being ahead sometime during the game -- they've had the lead in every game they've played this season.  Go Sox!  Don't stop now, boys!