White Sox, Twins to face off again
When the White Sox began a series with the Minnesota Twins early last week, I'd have called them the favorites to win the heated AL Central race between the teams.
Minnesota took two of three from the Sox then and went on to sweep Oakland in a three-gamer over the weekend, allowing the Twins to build a three-game lead. Three games isn't all that much with the calendar still turned to August, but in a race that's been as tight as the AL Central race has been, it feels monumental. Especially since the Sox are playing a much worse brand of baseball than what they did during their seemingly invincible stretch of late June and July.
Last week's series got its share of hype and then some around these parts, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't mean all that much with the teams sporting identical records at its beginning. This one is a whole lot more important for the Sox. Lose two of three, and you're sitting four games back and struggling for momentum. Get swept, and you're six out and gasping for air. But win the series — especially in a sweeping fashion — and you're in pretty good shape going forward.
I don't think Sox fans could pick a starter they'd rather have on the mound than John Danks, who gets the ball tonight to oppose the up-and-down Scott Baker. Gavin Floyd, who suffered a rare-for-the-past-several-weeks loss his last time out, goes Wednesday against Francisco Liriano, and Mark Buehrle goes Thursday against Carl Pavano in what is actually the worst matchup for the Sox, at least based on 2010 numbers.
