Yankees 4 White Sox 0: The Offense Just Really Hates Jake Peavy

The good news for Jake Peavy is that, on the day he said he'd donate $100 for every strikeout in MLB toward research for pancreatic cancer, he set a career high as a White Sox with 11 strikeouts.

The bad news for Jake Peavy is that his offense really wanted to contribute as well, and allowed Yankee pitching to strike them out 13 times.

Game #78: White Sox at Yankees

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	42-35	Jake Peavy	6-4 2.85 ERA	12:05 PM CT
YANKEES	46-30	Hiroki Kuroda	7-7 3.40 ERA

In their last three games the White Sox have scored 30 runs on 48 hits. What's different about those games and today's game is that Jake Peavy is pitching for the White Sox today.

In Jake's last three starts the White Sox have scored 2 runs. Which is why Jake is 6-4 with a 2.85 ERA while the Yankees Ivan Nova is 9-2 with a 4.03 ERA.

Does that seem fair to you, offense? No? Then fix it.

Today's Bet: White Sox +125
Total: $105.84

The Tigers Should Trade Justin Verlander

In 2011 Justin Verlander set baseball on fire, going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA to win both the AL Cy Young and the AL MVP. The Tigers finished the season 95-67 before losing to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

In 2012 the Tigers find themselves at 37-40 in third place in the AL Central. A big reason for this is because Justin Verlander, after losing only 5 games all of last season, finds himself at 8-5 on the season.

Which can only mean one thing: it's time for the Tigers to trade Justin Verlander.

White Sox 14 Yankees 7: That's A Cute Little Offense You Have There, New York

I was not expecting good things to happen tonight. Yes, Jose Quintana has been fantastic all season, but as a soft-tossing lefty without great stuff, who doesn't miss a lot of bats and gives up a lot of flyballs, the Yankees are not the optimal opponent to face. Particularly in Yankee Stadium.

Combine that with the fact the Yankees were starting a pitcher the Sox had never seen before, and history suggested it could be a long night.

Well, I was half right.

Game #77: White Sox at Yankees

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	41-35	Jose Quintana	2-1 1.25 ERA	6:05 PM CT
YANKEES	46-29	Adam Warren	0-0 0.00 ERA

Wait a second. The White Sox are sending Jose Quintana to the mound for a game at Yankee Stadium and he's more experienced than the guy the Yankees are sending out there?

All right.

Today's Bet: White Sox +113
Total: $104.71

The Revolving Door In The White Sox Bullpen Keeps Spinning

The White Sox bullpen is not a safe place to be. Chris Sale knew this which is why he fought tooth and nail to get out of it after his brief sentencing as closer.

American League Power Rankings: Week 12

Doing these rankings every Friday morning has now become a nice reminder as to how much better the AL East and AL West are compared to the AL Central. Of course, looking at the standings generally has the same effect.

If you look at the records in the American League, of the teams with the top 7 marks only the White Sox appear in the top half. Of the 9 teams in the league that are over .500 only the Sox and Indians represent the American League's heartland. Meanwhile, every team in the AL East has won more games than its lost.

White Sox 4 Yankees 3: Grand Theft Tank

It's always fun to steal a win. It's more fun when you steal a win in New York against the Yankees.

Especially when it comes at the expense of some over-management by Joe Girardi.

Game #76: White Sox at Yankees

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	40-35	Dylan Axelrod	0-1 4.85 ERA	6:05 PM CT
YANKEES	46-28	Ivan Nova	9-2 4.25 ERA

And with the beginning of this series the White Sox will have finally played every team that is on their schedule this season. This isn't important in any way, but I know this because I made all those preview pics before the season even began and I just remember the Yankees being the last one I had to make.

Today's Bet: White Sox +170
Total: $103.01

We Have Seen The Last Of Will Ohman

Wednesday was an outing that sums up Will Ohman pretty well. He came into the game in the eighth inning with the Sox sporting a 12-2 lead. He promptly proceeded to walk the first hitter he saw and then gave up a two-run homer before getting out of the inning. In the ninth he made sure to load the bases with one out before finally putting an end to the game.

And now it seems that outing may have put an end to Will Ohman as a White Sox reliever.

White Sox 12 Twins 5: We Got Your Offense Right Here, On The Bench

When I first saw the White Sox lineup this morning I figured Robin Ventura had to be confused. With the early start Robin probably assumed that it was a Sunday morning, so he threw his Sunday lineup out there.

Well, let's hope he confuses tomorrow for Sunday too because DAMN THAT'S A LOT OF OFFENSE.

Game #75: White Sox at Twins

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	39-35	Chris Sale	8-2 2.24 ERA	12:10 PM CT
TWINS	30-43	Nick Blackburn	4-4 7.45 ERA

After this game the Sox head to New York for a four-game set against the Yankees. Wins in that series won't be as easy to come by as wins against the Twins should be, so it'd be nice if Chris Sale makes sure that the two runs of offense his team will give him holds up.

Today's Bet: White Sox -178
Total: $102.45

White Sox 3 Twins 2: It's Never Easy, Is It?

It should have been easy. It had been easy. Gavin Floyd sure wasn't having any problems, as he went 7 scoreless innings tying a season high with 9 strikeouts.

It's the second straight start for Floyd in which he didn't allow a run, following his 6.1 scoreless innings against the Cubs last week. Everything was going all so smoothly until Addison Reed had to make sure Sox fans started suffering from PTSD (Playing the Twins Stress Disorder).

Game #74: White Sox at Twins

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	38-35	Gavin Floyd	5-7 5.20 ERA	7:10 PM CT
TWINS	30-42	Liam Hendriks	0-4 7.39 ERA

So do you think the Sox can manage to score more than a run today?

Today's Bet: White Sox -124
Total: $101.64

Nestor Molina Placed On Disabled List

It's not an injury that affects the Major League roster, but the White Sox did get some bad news on Tuesday.

The Birmingham Barons announced that they had placed Nestor Molina on the disabled list.

Week 11 Pitchers Poll: Jose Quintana Doesn't Know How To Win, Keeps Climbing Anyway

Jose Quintana is lucky that picking up wins doesn't mean a whole lot in these rankings or else the White Sox offense would be keeping him buried further down than he is. After climbing five spots last week Quintana threw another 8 scoreless innings this week and climbed up a bit higher in the rankings.

Week 11 Hitters Poll: Alex Rios Will Quietly Pass All Of You

If somebody had told me before the season started that at the end of June Alex Rios would be in second place in these rankings I'm not sure how I would have responded to them. I'd assume that the White Sox were roughly 5-67 if that were the case.

Yet, here they are, in first place and Alex Rios now trails only Paul Konerko after eleven weeks.

Twins 4 White Sox 1: One And Done

This was exactly what a game against the Twins is supposed to be when you're the White Sox, but just a little worse. If death by a million cuts wasn't bad enough, the Sox offense continued to struggle yet again.

Game #73: White Sox at Twins

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	38-34	Jake Peavy	6-3 2.74 ERA	7:10 PM CT
TWINS	29-42	Francisco Liriano	1-7 5.74 ERA

Merry Youkmas everybody! Oh wait, he's Jewish isn't he? Happy Youkukkah!

For a gift I got you a matchup between Jake Peavy and Francisco Liriano. Try not to mess it up.

Today's Bet: White Sox -112
Total: $102.64

Kevin Youkilis Is In The Lineup Tonight

The Kevin Youkilis Era will begin in the first inning of tonight's game against the Twins as he's scheduled to bat second in the Sox lineup tonight. Personally I'd have rather seen him hitting sixth or seventh, but whatever, he's going to hit 80 home runs and pitch 250 innings over the next few months anway.

And hopefully tomorrow Robin will spell Youk's name right.

Pic via Mark Gonzalez

This Poor Sox Fan Is Really Upset About Brent Lillibridge

As I've already gone over, I'm happy with the Kevin Youkilis trade. The Sox get a player that might help over the final 90 games of the season and they didn't have to give up anything of value to get him.

Unfortunately, for one five-year old White Sox fan, this trade is not good news.

Thoughts On The Kevin Youkilis Trade

As you've no doubt heard by now the White Sox sent Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge to the Boston Red Sox for Kevin Youkilis. The trade did not come as a surprise, as I first mentioned the idea of the Sox going after Youkilis back at the end of May.

So how do I feel about this deal?

White Sox 1 Brewers 0: Kevin Youkilis Inspires The White Sox To Retake First Place

I stopped watching the Sox game in the third inning because I wanted to watch Italy and England in the Euro quarterfinals because I hate America and I'm a no good Communist or something. Italy eventually beat England by beating them on penalty kicks after neither team could manage to score over 120 minutes.

After the soccer game ended I resumed watching the White Sox and Brewers relive the soccer match.

Game #72: White Sox vs Brewers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	37-34	Jose Quintana	2-1 1.53 ERA	1:10 PM CT
BREWERS	33-38	Michael Fiers	2-2 3.46 ERA

The White Sox haven't won a series since taking two of three from Seattle at the beginning of the month. The loss in that series was the one that ended the nine-game winning streak. Yeah, it's been that long. Five straight series to be exact.

Let's put an end to that streak this afternoon as we say goodbye to interleague play until it becomes a regular occurrence next season.

Today's Bet: White Sox -130
Total: $101.87

White Sox 8 Brewers 6: Ugly Isn't Always Bad

You had to figure that with Dylan Axelrod and Randy Wolf on the mound we'd see a lot more runs in this game than we did with Chris Sale and Zack Greinke on Friday night. Well, for once, baseball made sense.

A.J. Pierzynski Would Prefer You Kept Your Camera Off Him After He Strikes Out

Game #71: White Sox vs Brewers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	36-34	Dylan Axelrod	0-1 3.52 ERA	6:15 PM CT
BREWERS	33-37	Randy Wolf	2-5 5.11 ERA	FOX

I have a feeling that all the runs neither team scored against Chris Sale and Zack Greinke yesterday will be scored against Dylan Axelrod and Randy Wolf today. It'd be nice if the Sox scored most of them.

Today's Bet: White Sox -121
Total: $101.04

Buster Olney Is Reporting A Youkilis Trade May Be Imminent

I swear it was only yesterday that I read that the White Sox were no longer interested in Kevin Youkilis and had decided to focus their attention on adding pitching instead. With the news of Phil Humber going on the disabled list Friday, I figured that wouldn't be changing any time soon.

So of course Buster Olney reported late Friday night that a Youkilis trade could happen at any moment and that the White Sox were apparently the favorite to get him.

Brewers 1 White Sox 0: The Power Outage Continues

I don't have a lot of time to write a recap for this game because of work and the Jerry Sandusky news.

Game #70: White Sox vs Brewers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	36-33	Chris Sale	8-2 2.46 ERA	7:10 PM CT
BREWERS	32-37	Zack Greinke	7-2 3.10 ERA

Not a bad pitching matchup here. Of course, in Chris Sale's last start he was going against Clayton Kershaw and both pitchers allowed 5 runs. Hopefully that will just be Greinke this time.

Today's Bet: White Sox -128
Total: $102.04

Phil Humber To The DL, Kosuke Fukudome DFA'd

Well it had been a pretty boring news cycle for the White Sox since the Cubs series, but it seems the team felt it was time to give us all something to talk about besides attendance.

American League Power Rankings: Week 11

Bad news, Sox fans. It turns out that losing series after series eventually catches up to you and not only knocks you out of first place in your own division, but also out of second place in the power rankings.

How far did the Sox fall? Well, they're still in a good spot, but points-wise, the difference between them and the team ranked two spots behind them is razor thin. Which means another couple of losses will send them down even further.

White Sox 7 Cubs 0: The Sky Stops Falling

While I've had my fair share of fun with it on Twitter, the last couple of days of White Sox talk has been exhausting. It's either been attendance or "oh my god, the Sox are a half-game out of first they better sell everybody."

Game #69: White Sox vs Cubs

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	35-33	Gavin Floyd	4-7 5.63 ERA	7:10 PM CT
CUBS	24-44	Randy Wells	1-1 4.50 ERA

Who wants to not get swept? Anybody?

Today's Bet: White Sox -175
Total: $101.47

Cubs 2 White Sox 1: Walk, Don't Score Runs

Here are the pitching lines from tonight's starting pitchers.

Pitcher 1: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 5K

Pitcher 2: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 5K

Guess which pitcher was on the winning team.

Game #68: White Sox vs Cubs

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	35-31	Jake Peavy	6-2 2.91 ERA	7:10 PM CT
CUBS	22-43	Travis Wood	0-3 4.58 ERA

A Peavy/Wood matchup is pretty much the opposite of what Stewart/Garza was last night, so I'm assuming the Sox will win this one 12-3. It's science.

As for the game and this site, sadly I'll be attending a wake tonight so I'm not going to be watching live. I will be recording the game to watch when I get home so expect the recap to be up late tonight or possibly tomorrow morning.

Today's Bet: White Sox -210
Total: $102.47

Week 10 Pitchers Poll: So Many Reasons To Be Sad

Much like the Hitters Poll, there was no Pitchers Poll last week. Also much like the Hitters Poll, there weren't many changes in the rankings.

Though there was one Sox pitcher who jumped up quite a few spots. Do you think you can guess who it is? I may have left a hint for you up top.

Week 10 Hitters Poll: A Week Off Doesn't Change Much

After a week long hiatus the Hitters Poll is back. Sorry I didn't do the poll last week but I was in Florida and I was fully intending to do both of them on Monday night in my hotel room but then a trip to Marlins Park and a few hours at the hotel bar later there was no Hitters Poll.

That's just the way things work sometimes.

John Danks Is Out Indefinitely

I have some fantastic news for all you Jose Quintana fans out there. You're going to be seeing a lot more of Quintana in a White Sox uniform over the next few weeks. Unfortunately he won't be replacing Phil Humber or Gavin Floyd in the rotation, but instead will be keeping his role as John Danks' replacement.

After their loss on Monday Danks told the world he had a Grade 1 tear of his subcapularis tendon in his left shoulder.

Cubs 12 White Sox 3: Zach Stewart Is A Specialist

There's a 75% chance that baseball was never seen again

As you can see by the score above there isn't a lot of positive things to focus on when it comes to tonight's game. That being said, I'd like to start this post off on a positive note.

Game #67: White Sox vs Cubs

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	35-31	Zach Stewart	1-1 5.18 ERA	7:10 PM CT
CUBS	22-43	Matt Garza	2-5 4.04 ERA

Zach Stewart against Matt Garza? Man, we got this in the bag.

Today's Bet: White Sox -128
Total: $103.47

Dodgers 2 White Sox 1: There Will Be No Appeal

There's going to be a lot of second-guessing of Robin Ventura following this game, and the truth is he doesn't really deserve it. Should he have left Jose Quintana in to go for the complete game, or was bringing in Addison Reed the right decision?

Well, considering the way this game ended, the answer seems easy. However, that doesn't make it right.

Game #66: White Sox at Dodgers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	35-30	Jose Quintana	2-1 1.98 ERA	3:10 PM CT
DODGERS	41-25	Chris Capuano	8-2 2.87 ERA

The best thing about today's game is that after it's over no White Sox pitcher will have to pick up a bat and hit again this season unless the Sox are in the World Series. Which I think is a fair trade. What would make that even nicer is if Jose Quintana can send the White Sox home at .500 on the road trip.

I mean, Chris Capuano can't really be as good as his numbers suggest, can he?

Today's Bet: White Sox +105
Total: $104.47

What Does Zach Stewart's Start Really Mean?

Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid about the entire thing, but generally when a baseball team sends out an email after midnight on a Saturday to announce some changes in their starting rotation, my nose perks up.

I mean, is that really some information you couldn't make public on Sunday morning or afternoon when people are actually paying attention?

White Sox 5 Dodgers 4: Let's Hear It For The Pen

Going into tonight's game I was incredibly worried about having Phil Humber on the mound
considering the Sox had already lost three in a row. Well, Phil Humber did nothing on Saturday night that will make me more comfortable with him in his next start.

No, Humber was pretty Humber out there.

Game #65: White Sox at Dodgers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	34-29	Phil Humber	2-4 5.92 ERA	9:10 PM CT
DODGERS	40-24	Chad Billingsley	4-4 3.57 ERA

This game is rather important for the White Sox. Sure, the Indians have already lost, and a win would help us put some more cushion between ourselves and a team that can't score or keep other teams from scoring, but it's not really Cleveland that I'm worried about.

Detroit won on Saturday. Which means if the Sox lose tonight Detroit is suddenly only 3 games out of first.

So it's a good thing we got Phil Humber on....aw shit.

Today's Bet: White Sox +118
Total: $103.29

Dodgers 7 White Sox 6: At Least Twitter Was Entertaining

Firm, yet supple.

This game did not live up to the billing. It was supposed to be a pitchers duel between Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw and instead we saw both pitchers allow 9 earned runs in 11.2 innings.

What really made it hurt, though, was that of those 9 runs, 4 of them came after the White Sox had built a 5-1 lead.

Game #64: White Sox at Dodgers

TEAM	RECORD	STARTER	NUMBERS	START TIME
WHITE SOX	34-29	Chris Sale	8-2 2.05 ERA	9:10 PM CT
DODGERS	40-24	Clayton Kershaw	5-3 2.65 ERA

The only thing worse than a Sox game starting at 9pm is a Sox game starting at 9pm on a Friday night. But this game is a bit different, folks.

It's Chris Sale going against Clayton Kershaw, and if that's not the only thing you need to hear to want to watch this game then you're not really much of a baseball fan anyway.

Today's Bet: White Sox +102
Total: $104.29

American League Power Rankings: Week 10

And here come the Yankees.

Having won six in a row and nine of their last ten, the Yankees now lay claim to the best record in the American League. Meanwhile, the team that's been on top the power rankings all season, the Rangers, have fallen back to third in the American League standings.

But have the Yankees replaced Texas atop the power rankings?

Cardinals 5 White Sox 3: Gavin'd

Sadly it's gotten to the point where all I have to do is write "Gavin Floyd started" as my entire recap of a game, and any Sox fan who came along who hadn't seen the game would know what happened.

Gavin Floyd happened, just like Gavin Floyd has been happening for too long.