Just What The Doctor Ordered

With the Indians nipping at their heels the Sox desperately needed their starters to step up and shut down the weak Minnesota offense in order to hold on to their slim lead in the Central. On their final regular season home series of the season, that is exactly what they were able to do. Between McCarthy, Contreras, Garcia and Buehrle, Sox starting pitching surrendered just four runs, four walks and 18 hits over 34 innings in the last four games. Both Contreras and Buehrle threw complete games. With KC's victory over Cleveland, the Sox magic number dropped to 5 and their lead in the division moved back up to 2.5 games.
I just so happened to have 3 free tickets offered to me at about the same time the first pitch was scheduled to be thrown. With the rain delay I knew I would have time to get to the park without missing more than an inning, but I was debating if I felt like possibly being wet all afternoon. After taking a quick look at the weather radar on the net, I decided it would be worth it to brave the rain to go to what could be my last game of the season. Also, they were some pretty good seats...Sec 121 Row 17, right at the edge of the infield dirt on the 1st base side. It's hard to turn those down regardless of how the weather is. I got to the park just as the rain delay had ended and was in my seats in time to see the second batter of the ball game.
One of the more memorable moments of the game was in the 3rd when the final score of the KC-Indian game was posted and the crowd learned KC had won. The entire crowd erupted in cheers and clapping. The players in the field paused for a second and turned their heads to check the scoreboard. It really was a moment to behold. The win moved my personal record when in attendance up to 8-4. With my previous two games being terrible losses on Half-Way to St. Patty's Day (vs. LAA) and this week against Cleveland in the rubber-match of that series, I can't tell you how nice it was to see a win.

Tomorrow the Sox will start off a 4 game set in Detroit and will be sending out Garland (17-10, 3.51) to start the series off. If the rotation holds, he will be followed by B-Mac, Contreras and Garcia. In case you're wondering, that would set up Buehrle to start the opener against Cleveland on Friday with Garland following him on Saturday. Which pitcher will follow them will depend on where the Sox are at in the standings, but if it is close bet on Jose making a start on short rest.

Gleeman on the impact of Clevelands loss today on their chances to win the divsion:
"Any game at this point is crucial, but Sizemore's error really cuts down on Cleveland's chances of being within striking distance for that final series of the season. If they take two out of three from Tampa Bay and Chicago splits their four-game series against Detroit, that would leave Cleveland two games back entering the final series. In other words, they would have to sweep the White Sox to win the division, because taking two out of three would leave them a game back. If they had won yesterday afternoon, the same scenario would leave them needing to take just two out of three to tie."