Eenie Meanie Minie Moe, Catch the Tigers...

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 14, 2006 3:16PM

Was it only a week ago that the Sox sat in third place in the AL Central, 10 games behind the Detroit Tigers? My, how things change quickly!

With Sunday's 7-3 victory over the Tigers, the Sox swept the Tigers in theirweekend series. On Friday night, Jose Contreras pitched his first career shutout as the Sox won 5-0. Saturday afternoon, the Sox capitalized on three Tigers errors to win 4-3.

With the sweep, the Sox now sit just 5 1/2 games back of the division leaders. Can the White Sox close that gap even further this week? They welcome the Kansas City Royals -- the worst team in the AL -- to the Cell for four games this week, while the Tigers head to Boston for three againt the Red Sox.

As for the wild card, the Sox currently hold a 2 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins.

Most importantly, the Sox seem to have regained that swagger that helped them win the World Series last year, and jumped out to one of the best records earlier this year. Now that they seem to have worked through that post-All Star Game funk, they are beginning to look like the team who won the World Series. Their pitching has improved, they've been getting the timely hits, they've been getting production from all everybody in their lineup and on the bench, and they finding a way to win the close games. Mark your calendars now -- the Sox and Tigers play four more head-to-head in Detroit next week. Can the Sox really reclaim first place so soon?