Sox starters are losing their steam and the Twins are set to get Liriano back.

I am all for a Duchscherer trade. He was really good today against the Yankees.

Maybe I’m not thinking clearly , but will we be able to hold off the Royals?!

that KW was pursuing A. J. Burnett. Anybody else here this? Thoughts? Would we have anything to offer to get him?

As far as pessimism, it’s a long season and teams go through ups and downs. Sox should have won today, but it’s not going to break the season. They won two in KC that they shouldn’t have won, so these things even out. Sox remain in first and should proceed as though they are committed to winning it.

rather than panic.

The offense is not the problem:

Last 7 days, .913 OPS. Last 14 days, .805 OPS. Last 28 days, .781 OPS

The pitching has had troubles lately:

Last 7 days, 7.27. Last 14 days 5.82 ERA. Last 28 days, 4.21 ERA

But then think about exactly who has been on the DL for the Sox or (as is obvious now) pitching through injury. Linebrink has been out for a week and ineffective for the last 2 due to “sleepy arm”. Jenks went on the DL. Contreras was pitching through pain/injury.

With those guys out/ineffective, its no surprise the ERA goes up as everyone shifts around in the bullpen, with guys pitching high leverage innings who should not be.

Meanwhile we knew Floyd was likely to regress, same with Masset .

I guess I would put myself at concerned, but not panicked. But I know no manner of reason will assuage the chicken littles, and I’m not sure why I even try.

don’t need to worry about fucking Minnesota, bollocks to them. We’ll be ok, Kansas have been playing well they have jesus and he is the league leader in something or other. So they will take games off the Twins i bet

regards

The interesting case is the Twins, who have ridden a staff that doesn’t walk people and an offense that has overperformed with runners in scoring position, to just shy of first place. As much as any team, they can upgrade over the next two weeks because they have so many massive holes in the lineup. It has never been the Twins’ personality to do so, so while they probably will improve the rotation—by swapping out Livan Hernandez for Francisco Liriano—it won’t be enough to make up for the decline in their offense down the stretch. They’re the most imminent threat to the Sox, but not the most dangerous one unless they make a surprising trade.

The White Sox have a 7½-game lead on the Tigers with 66 games to play. The Playoff Odds Report gives the Sox a 71.6 percent shot at the postseason, the Tigers 6.1 percent. I think that overstates the case, but in the face of that, it’s hard to pick the Tigers to make a run and steal this thing. So I’m going to do it anyway, not because I hate the White Sox—frankly, Kenny Williams has become a top-six GM or so, and I think Ozzie Guillen is easily a top-ten manager—but because of the regression I see them having from some key performers. A two-week stretch starting Friday, in which they play the Tigers six times and the Twins four, will set the tone for the rest of the year.