That the same guy who NEVER does any of his good work in high lev situations?

Just get to the tourney and anything can happen. The Tigers are not a realistic threat at this point and the Twins are going on a gut check road trip. It’s time to make hay while the sun shines. The continued offense from Quentin, Thome and Dye is huge—none of these guys appears to be slowing down.

AJ continues to be brutal in the 2 hole, and it’s costing the big three quite a few RBI chances. Ozzie should have plugged Swisher back into leadoff and O-Cab down to 2nd long ago, well, I think these last two weeks or so have cemented that.

Count’s injury sucks obviously, but I’m feeling OK about Carasco as a 5th starter for 1/4 season. It’s the bullpen that is more worrisome. Linebrink needs to come back and be effective by the end of August IMO, or the team will continue to need big leads - something the offense and starting pitching have not shown an ability to consistantly provide - in order to be successful.

If Liney can come back effective it slots the bullpen guys to where they should be—Thornon and Dotel for the 6th and 7th, Liney in the 8th, and the fat man in the 9th. Jenks looked good today, that was a positive.

All in all a good win and with Danks going tommorow against a weakened Boston lineup I like the chances of a three out of four series.

Glad to see Gavin notch a W. I just wrote on my own blog last night that biggest keys down the stretch are Gavin, Javy, Thornton and Dotel. We simply have to get quality outings out of Gavin and Javy consistently, and I think we will. Thornton and Dotel need to bridge the gap to Bobby, and despite their high ERA recently they both have solid K rates. We’re just giving up way too many hits as a staff. If we cut down on that (partly the fault of our D) we’ll be fine. And will be…because we’re going to playoffs.

The funny thing about Gavin is that I can totally see him making a bet like that. I remember watching the game he pitched against Detroit earlier this year when he took a no-no deep into the game (the first time) and I said to my buddy that there was no way he has the stones to complete it. He just looks scared and unsure of himself…and it shows in his control. I like Gavin and he has wicked stuff…I just want to see more assertiveness and confidence in him. I have no first hand knowledge, but I would think that this has to drive Ozzie crazy.

(by the way…longtime reader but first time poster. I really like this site a lot…keep up the good work!)

At least he lost the goofy haircut.

This comment adds nothing of worth but I thought it needed to be said.

Gammons said he expects the White Sox to try and trade for Washburn tomorrow.

I know others will say batting order isn’t all that important, but if it’s going to cost you a few runs, why not re-tool it to make it more effective for a playoff run? What’s so scary about batting Swisher 2nd or leadoff, and putting AJ before Chelexi?

Ooooo it’s so shiny, can I do blow off it?

We shall see if he is still a Seattle Mariner by that game.

One nice thing I noticed about Washburn is that he has been much better on the road this year instead of using a big home ballpark to skew his numbers. He has also pitched well at The Cell in his career.

Chris De Luca wrote:

Unless a waiver trade can be made - and the Sox are pursuing Seattle Mariners left-hander Jarrod Washburn - manager Ozzie Guillen plans to slide right-handed reliever D.J. Carrasco into Contreras’ spot in the rotation.

According to Phil Rogers, the Rockies wanted Aaron Poreda in any deal for Brian Fuentes…

When Williams talked to Colorado about highly sought reliever Brian Fuentes, the Rockies told him they wouldn’t make the deal unless it included 2007 first-round pick Aaron Poreda, who is finding the strike zone without losing his high-90s fastball. Williams will consider deals for available starters, such as Cleveland’s Paul Byrd, but don’t be surprised if Williams opts for a look at Poreda, promoting him to take Contreras’ turn against Kansas City on Thursday.

In going 11-11 since the All-Star break, the White Sox have averaged 5.4 runs per game. That would be a comfortable level of run support if the Sox were pitching well, but they’re not. That’s why general manager Ken Williams traded for left-hander Horacio Ramirez, who replaces the not-ready-for-prime-time Boone Logan, and continues to search for a starter.

Cleveland’s Paul Byrd is a great fit but seems unlikely to clear waivers to facilitate a post-deadline trade.

I don’t think anybody but the MLB and its teams actually know which players have cleared waivers. I have seen articles saying that both Washburn and Byrd have not yet cleared waivers and also some articles saying that they both have cleared waivers.

If you are at the game Wednesday look for the douchebag in the Alexei shirt in a sky box making a drunken ass of himself – that would be me.

My fervent hope is we are still in 1st by next Sunday, when I get home.

Such the tease. I’m betting it’s a lovely Q-collage.