Not in 2008 when the White Sox last had control of the AL Central. Not in 2006 when the Sox were the best team in the AL in the first half. Not in 2005 when they rolled up 110 wins and a World Series title.
No, this team has one-upped them all. 10 games in a row.
The last time the White Sox won double digits in a row (in the same season -- the only time it counts) Ford was in office, bell-bottoms were in style, and WU and Chiburb both thought they had something to look forward to.
The story of the Sox 10-game streak has to be the pitching. Look at these numbers:
Strk Start | End | Games | W | L | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | HBP | WP | BK | Opp |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010-06-15 | 2010-06-25 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 92.0 | 64 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 78 | 4 | 2.05 | 0 | 2 | 0 | PIT,WSN,ATL,CHC |
The amazing pitching hasn't quite been accompanied by commensurate performance by the offense -- although the revival of Q! is certainly welcome -- which has given it a bit of a beginning-of-'05 feel, when the Sox offense was struggling to produce, but they were scoring just enough (and at the right times) to push the Sox out to the best start in baseball.
It's also started to take on an '05 feel in that I'm no longer questioning it. I spent much of that year not caring how they did it -- I'm thinking of Dustin Hermanson and Scott Podsednik, specifically -- just so long as they kept producing and putting up W's.
I'm not one to get overly excited by playing (and beating) the Cubs, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't get a little bit extra enjoyment out of this one. I would have been ecstatic by reaching 10-in-a-row against any team, but making Carlos Zambrano explode like that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland is the best that it gets. He's the perfect heel. His talent and stuff are good enough that if you let him get on a roll you're in for a long day, but if knock him around early before he gets a rhythm it's just fun to sit back and watch the chain reaction.
Add in Carlos Quentin's 4th HR of the homestand, Beckham's second HR (of the season), and Jake Peavy's continued run of Peaviness, and it might be the most satisfying win of the year.
At least until tomorrow.