Garland Goes to 8-0, Stops Sox Slide

Jon Garland proved tonight that he is no longer the .500 pitcher he has been the last few years. After the Rangers roughed up El Duque yesterday, Garland turned the tables and as The Hawk would say, "stuck their bats right up their rears". He was not lights out, surrendering 2 runs on 5 hits, but he had great location this evening. Just about whenever he needed to make a pitch, he did, and on almost every pitch he was filling up the catchers glove. (Save those drop off changeups he's been throwing so effectively this season)
A prime example of him truely being a much improved pitcher was in the 6th when he allowed a walk and a HBP before giving up a RBI double, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. He struck out the next two batters before retiring Mench on a flyout to center to escape the inning only surrendering the one run. In past seasons there is no way Garland would have gotten out of that inning without giving up the lead. (After the RBI double, it was 3-2 Sox)
The offense was also solid with Rowand, Iguchi and sPod all getting an RBI, and AJ with two from his 2 out homer in the 6th. The Sox jumped out to an early lead in the first with sPod leading things off with a single before stealing 2nd, then was driven in by a double from Rowand. Rowand then stole 3rd, miraculously, as the ball beat him to the bag by about 5 feet, but thanks to a nifty slide he got in there safely. He later scored on a infielders choice groundout putting the Sox up 2-0 after one inning.
I had a bad feeling going into this one and I'm extremely relieved that I was wrong. I was getting a feeling that the bubble was about to burst on our starting pitching and that we were going to start a trend of being roughed up. Garcia still has me a bit concerned, but I'll wait 'till after I see what he does against the Cubs before I get on him.

Due up: Buehrle (6-1 3.73) goes up against Drese (3-3 6.14) for a 1:05 start tomorrow afternoon. Thursday is my girlfriend's birthday and it's an off day for the Sox, so weather permitting we're going to head out and catch Wendsday's game for a little premature celebration. The great thing about being a Sox fan rather than a sCrUBS fan is that you can almost always get good seats at the last minute. Viva White Sox beisbol!