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Jayson Nix and the White Sox continue to jump up the AL Central standings

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John Danks picked up right where Mark Buehrle left on Thursday, pitching 7+ innings of zero walk shutout baseball. He didn't allow a Royals baserunner to reach second base until the 6h inning when he gave up back-to-back singles.

On the CSN post game Chuck Garfien opined that Zack Greinke might have been tipping his pitches, but it seemed to me that the Sox had a solid plan of attack against him; look for and attack fastballs. That's a tough proposition when Greinke is on his game, but while Greinke was still lighting up the gun with mid-to-high-90's heat he wasn't painting on the black with it. That allowed the Sox to attack him in more favorable counts where they were less likely to face his wipeout slider. Greinke's curveball was rolling up to the plate today, though with the exception of a single from Dewayne Wise the Sox didn't really make him pay for hanging that pitch. 

If anything it felt like the Sox let Greinke off the hook. They had 8 hits and 4 runs through 4 innings, but gave away 3 outs on the basepaths on 3 separate failed stolen base attempts, none of which were close. Thankfully, the Royals defense, as they are wont to do, allowed the Sox to tack on two of those runs in an extended inning.

The White Sox are rolling right now. There's not much else to say. I guess that Tdogg fellow knew what he was talking about. :)

Stat of the Day: The White Sox record is 33-22 in games not started by C&C Rehab Factory.

Outside of when the schedule is first introduced, my interest in the White Sox future opponents consists of only the questions 'Who's next?' and 'Who are they playing in the games I have tickets for?' But thanks to a comment I don't have th time to search for right now (it's 5:20), it's been brought to my attention that the Sox schedule between now and the All-Star break consists entirely of non-Tiger AL Central opponents and could be considered quite favorable.

The Sox sit at 1-game under .500, 3 games below their high-water mark of 2-over (way back in April at 7-5) and 5-back of the division-leading TIgers. With 6 games against the Indians, who have already begun to sell off valuable parts and have perhaps the worst non-Nationals pen in baseball, and 4 more against the Royals, who have gone 14-31 since their high-water mark at 18-11, it would seem that the All-Star break would/should serve as a somewhat arbitrary deadline for deciding the Sox immediate future. 

I still think they should probably Hold rather than Buy or Sell.