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“Chicks Dig the Long Ball” was an advertising campaign back in the unenlightened days. “Sox Fans Dig the Long Ball” carries none of the stigma and expresses what we should be feeling. The White Sox beat the Tigers last night, 6-3, behind Mark Buehrle’s pitching, Carlos Quentin’s bases-loaded double, and the Long Ball, courtesy of A.J. Pierzynski and Paul Konerko.

This season, when the Sox notch two home runs, the team has a 12-6 record. It’s 4-2 when the club pokes three taters, and 1-0 when smashing four. Overall, that’s 17-8 when going yard multiple times. By comparison, the South Siders are 15-21 when hitting only one homer and 18-22 when no one has a four-bagger.

Buehrle was the beneficiary of the offensive output, throwing 6.0 innings of two-run ball. He held Detroit to just those two runs despite allowing 10 hits (and a walk). Think back to yesterday’s post on hit-to-run ratio and you’ll remember that teams are generally just above or below two hits per run. Last night against Buehrle, the Tigers were at five hits per run. Way to keep the runners from scoring, Mark.

Speaking of runners not scoring, how bad are the Sox on the base paths? Juan Pierre was picked off and both Adam Dunn and Brent Morel were cut down by outfielders. At least Dunn has an excuse: He’s so rarely on base that he’s obviously forgotten what to do when he gets there.

The win against the division leaders moves the Sox to just 3.5 games out of first place, with a chance to gain more in the next two nights of head to head competition with the Tigers. If Monday’s crowd is any indication – attendance listed at 37,110 – there’ll be plenty of folks to cheer on the Good Guys. Go Sox!