Morning Box Score

Cubs Drop Fifth Straight
Thursday is, mercifully, an off-day for the Cubs and they need it: the Cubs were swept by the Astros in losing their fifth game in a row Wednesday night, 4-0. Ryan Dempster was pretty solid, giving up three runs and striking out seven over seven innings, but the Cubs bats were, once again, silent. No one is panicking yet, but the one stat that jumps out is that 13 men were left on base. Fortunately, for the Cubs, the Brewers have also been on a slide so the Cubs' 4.5 game lead in the NL Central remains intact. Things don't get any easier as the Cubs now head out on a nine game road trip. Also, the team, their underperforming offense, and their banged up pitching staff close the season with the following series: @Cincinnati, @St. Louis, @Houston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, @New York, @Milwaukee. Nope. No reason to panic.

White Sox Rebound, Reclaim First
The Emotional Rollercoaster That Are The 2008 Chicago White Sox™ have hit another upswing as they defeated the Cleveland Indians 4-2 and reclaimed first place in the AL Central. Javier Vazquez pitched six innings, giving up only two runs, and the bullpen held the lead as Bobby Jenks notched his 28th save. Nick Swisher and Alexei Ramirez provided most of the offense with a homer apiece. Every game is important for the Pale Hose: if they were in the Wild Card hunt, they'd trail Boston by four. Instead, they still lead the AL Central by one game. Said Manager Ozzie Guillen, "I'm not going to call this road trip good because we won this one, because it wasn't. This will just be good to have a day off and go back home [from] a long road trip with a win. We needed this one." The White Sox better enjoy that day off as they don't get another one until September 22. They welcome the Angels, Blue Jays, and Tigers to town on the upcoming homestand.