Series Preview... at Baltimore, April 21-23

The White Sox round out their 10-game road trip with three in Baltimore to face the slumping Orioles. One week ago, the Orioles were fresh off a 7-5 win over the Rangers, pushing their record to 6-2, tied for best in the American League. Since then, they've lost 5 in a row, including a 4-game sweep at Fenway Park. They now sit at 6-7, a game out of last place in the American League East.

SERIES... at Oriole Park at Camden Yards; all three games start at 6:05 PM Chicago time.

TUESDAY'S PROBABLES... Jose Contreras (0-2, 6.97) vs. Brad Bergesen (MLB Debut)

WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLES... John Danks (1-0, 0.75) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (2-0, 4.32)

THURSDAY'S PROBABLES... Bartolo Colon (1-0, 3.86) vs. Adam Eaton (0-2, 11.25)

INJURY UPDATE... Orioles CF Adam Jones, one of their young up and coming superstars, is expected to return to the lineup tonight after leaving Sunday's game and missing Monday's with a tight hamstring. Hamstring injuries can be nagging, though, so I'll believe it when I see it.

The Orioles, however, will definitely be without Melvin Mora and Ryan Freel. Mora was placed on the DL last week with a hamstring injury and Freel was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List today after taking an errant pick-off throw to the head during yesterday's loss to Boston.

WHO'S HOT... Adam Jones. Even with missing a game and a half this past week, he's the only Oriole who has hit multiple HR over the past week and has hit .400/.571/.867.

WHO'S NOT... The O's pitching staff; Overall, the staff has an ERA of 6.69, 2nd worst in the American League but their bullpen has been especially rough, with an ERA of 8.12 this season, again, good for 2nd worst in the American League. The main culprits in the bullpen have been Brian Bass and Radhames Liz, who have ERAs of 11.57 and (not joking here) 67.50 respectively. Liz has allowed 10 earned runs and recorded only 4 outs this season and has a WHIP of 7.500.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW, BRAD... Tonight's projected starter for the O's is Brad Bergesen, who will be making his MLB Debut. He was selected by the Orioles in the 4th round of the 2004 Draft. The 23-year-old righty steadily worked his way up the organization over the years, but broke through last season at AA Bowie, where he started 23 games and posted a 15-6 record with a 3.22 ERA. He had an impressive spring for the Birds, but was sent to AAA Norfolk, where in 2 starts he has posted a 1-1 record and 2.45 ERA, however injury to Alfredo Simon and the massive incompetence of Liz have opened an opportunity for Bergesen.

MacDOUGAL GONE, EGBERT UP... The White Sox mercifully ended the Mike MacDougal Era today, designating the ineffective reliever for assignment. Jack Egbert will take his role in the Sox bullpen. Egbert's been less than great in Charlotte, but at this point, I'm willing to try anything.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT... A lot has been made of Bobby Jenks' struggles with the Orioles, and while it is true that Jenks has been tagged by Baltimore in the past (1-2 record, 8.49 ERA in 13 appearances against them), a lot of that seems to be luck. Jenks' BABIP against Baltimore is a shocking .512. .512!. That is over 200 points higher than his career BABIP of .291 and easily the highest against any team he has faced more than once. The current members of the Orioles, however, have not hit Jenks well historically, the current roster has a total of 5 hits off Jenks in 28 career plate appearances, and 3 of them belong to Brian Roberts (Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff own the other two).

Series Preview... at Tampa Bay, April 16-19

SERIES: at Tropicana Field; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday all are night games while Sunday's first pitch is at 12:38 PM Chicago time.

THURSDAY'S PROBABLES: John Danks (0-0, 0.00) vs. Jeff Niemann (0-1, 10.13)
FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Bartolo Colon (1-0, 0.00) vs. James Shields (1-1, 3.65)
SATURDAY'S PROBABLES: Mark Buehrle (1-0, 2.38) vs. Scott Kazmir (2-0, 2.84)
SUNDAY'S PROBABLES: Gavin Floyd (1-1, 6.00) vs. Matt Garza (1-0, 1.93)

Obviously, this series is a rematch of last year's ALDS that the Rays took 3-1 from the Sox en route to the American League Championship. Despite their well documented dome woes last year, the Sox were 3-4 at Tropicana Field in 2008, though they did lose their last 3 games in Tampa. The Sox were 1-3 last year in their games against the Rays started by one of the four projected starters this series.

DOME WOES - Already mentioned, but the Sox really struggled under roofs in 2008; winning only 4 of 20 games in domes last year. They hit 31 points lower indoors than out (.236 v .267). One of the few players to swing well inside was Alexei Ramirez, who hit .340/.340/.532. Jermaine Dye, however, hit .163/.213/.275 indoors.

WHO'S HOT - No surprise that Evan Longoria has gotten off to a scorching start. He is currently hitting .441 over his first 8 games of the 2009 season, with an American League leading 5 home runs. However, Longoria will miss tonight's game, as he is home in California attending to a family matter. That said, its pick your poison with the Rays right now. Carlos Pena has 3 HR in the last 7 days and is hitting .321/.387/.714 in that time span, and Jason Bartlett is hitting .346/.370/.654, as well.

WHO'S NOT - Tonight's starter Jeff Niemann had a forgettable first start of the 2009 season, allowing 6 earned runs over 5.1 innings in a 6-0 loss at Baltimore Saturday, however, most of those runs came in the first frame; an inning highlighted by a Melvin Mora grand slam. Though he would appear to be a perfect candidate for the "unknown pitcher who comes out of nowhere to completely baffle the White Sox," never fret; one of Niemann's 5 starts in 2008 came against the Sox and he was soundly rocked; 5 ER, 8 R, 5 H, 4 BB over 3.1 IP in a loss on April 18.

NOT TO TOOT MY OWN HORN, BUT - The Rays were a very chic pick to make another run at the A.L. East crown and go deep in the play-offs, but I was more skeptical. My main reason; Tampa's bullpen, which posted an AL-worst 6.16 ERA in 2007 and then one of the AL's best 3.55 ERA in 2008. Bullpens can be notoriously inconsistent over the course of even a year, so it's no surprise to me that one of the main reasons being discussed on the Gulf Coast for the Rays' slower than expected 4-5 start is their bullpen. Currently, the Rays' bullpen has a 5.63 ERA, good for 10th out of the 14-team American League.

AND IN WHITE SOX NEWS - Chris Getz will be back at the top of the lineup tonight. After missing both games against the Tigers this week, Ozzie told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that Getz will resume his role as second baseman/lead-off hitter. The Sox also have realigned their pitching rotation. John Danks was supposed to get the start Tuesday in Detroit, but that game was rained out. Jose Contreras kept his regular spot in the rotation, in yesterday's loss, but Danks will start tonight and push everyone back a day.

ONE FINAL MATCHUP TO WATCH - Danks, Buehrle, and any other lefty vs. Tampa Bay's offense. If there was one Achilles' heel to last year's American League champs, it was their struggles against left-handed pitching. The Rays posted the 2nd worst batting average (.246) against lefties in 2008 and they were only 25-24 in games against opposing southpaws. John Danks has collectively held the Rays' current lineup to a .260/.316/.397 line in 79 combined plate apperances, while Buehrle has held them to a .268/.307/.357 line in 181 combined PAs. Only Carlos Pena, with 1 HR against each, has homered off the pair. Hell, even Clayton Richard had a great outing against these guys last year. It certainly doesn't hurt to start half your games against these guys with lefties.

Upcoming Series... at Detroit, April 13-15

SERIES: at Comerica Park, Monday-Wednesday; all three games start at 1:05 PM Eastern Time, or just after noon here in the Central Time Zone.

CURRENT STANDING: The Tigers are 4-3, currently 1st place in the A.L. Central, 1/2 game ahead of the Sox and are undefeated (3-0) at Comerica this season.

MONDAY'S PROBABLES: Gavin Floyd (0-1, 2.57) vs. Zach Miner (1-0, 1.59)

TUESDAY'S PROBABLES: John Danks (0-0, 0.00) vs. Rick Porcello (0-1, 7.20)

WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLES: Jose Contreras (0-1, 7.20) vs. Armando Galarraga (1-0, 1.29)

After an embarrassing opening series in Toronto, the Tigers righted their ship in a big way, sweeping previously unbeaten Texas at home and taking sole possession of 1st place in the Central division along the way; their 4-3 mark is 1 win better than both the Sox and Royals. Of course, any time Gavin is set to pitch against Detroit, we have to point out his impressive career numbers against the Tigers; 9 games, all of them starts, a 4-0 record and a 3.23 ERA with 41 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 53 IP. He's even better at Comerica, where 4 of those starts have taken place and he's 2-0 with a 2.62 ERA. If there's one guy to worry about with Gavin, its Placido Polanco, who has a career .381/.458/.667 line against Gavin in 24 career plate appearances, though he was substantially better against Gavin in 2007 than 2008.

It's also noteworthy that the Sox have dominated the Tigers in Detroit since they moved to Comerica Park in 2000, going 49-32 at Detroit during that span, the most wins the Sox have recorded at any park outside of Chicago since 2000. This past decade, the Tigers have only won the season series against the Sox once (2004, when they won 11 of 19 games).

The Tigers have been getting it done with their offense. They rank near the top of the American League in most major offensive categories; notably Runs Scored (41, 2nd), Team Batting Average (.284, 3rd), and AB per HR (23.2, 4th). Individually, Miguel Cabrera is leading the charge, with a .520 BA after the first week of the season, 2nd in the American League and Brandon Inge already has 4 HR on the year, also good for 2nd in the A.L. To make matters worse, Cabrera has hit the current Sox staff well over his career, especially Jose Contretas, who he is 7-10 against in his career with a ridiculous line of .700/.769/.800, though he has only hit 1 HR in 72 combined plate appearances against the entire pitching staff (that lone HR, if you recall was courtesy of Octavio Dotel last June and was of the walk-off variety).

At any rate, its difficult to peg any team after just one week, but this Tigers team has been particularly vexing. After losing 3 of 4 from Toronto in an ugly series in which they were outscored 24-16, they bounced back at home against the Rangers blowing them out in a three-game sweep by a combined 24-9.

One Final Matchup to Watch: Paul Konerko/Jim Thome vs. Fernando Rodney. Rodney has inherited the Tigers' closing role in the wake of Todd Jones' retirement and Joel Zumaya's continued arm troubles. Rodney has been around for years now, but is still relatively unknown to many Sox hitters; 9 of them have seen him 4 times or less in their careers. Though Rodney has owned A.J. Pierzynski (0-8, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K), he has fared less well against Konerko and Thome, who are a combined 8-19 (.421) against Rodney and Thome is the only active Sox hitter to have taken Rodney yard, a solo home run on September 18, 2006.

Series Preview: Minnesota Twins, April 10-12

SERIES: at U.S. Cellular Field, Friday, April 10 - Sunday, April 12. Friday's first pitch is at 7:11 PM, Saturday's at 3:05 PM, and Sunday's at 1:05 PM

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Jose Contreras (7-6, 4.54 ERA in 2008) vs. R.A. Dickey (5-8, 5.21 in 2008)
SATURDAY'S PROBABLES: Bartolo Colon (4-2, 3.92 ERA in 2008) vs. Francisco Liriano (0-1, 5.14)
SUNDAY'S PROBABLES: Mark Buehrle (0-0, 3.60) vs. Nick Blackburn (0-0, 7.20)

Of course, the last time the Twins came to Chicago, the Sox won a memorable 1-Game Play-off for the AL Central title. The start to the 2009 season for last season's division frontrunners has been rough. The White Sox are currently hitting .198 as a team, last in the American League, while the Twins are hitting .219, third to last. With normal, early season temperature in the forecast, it's hard to see either of these teams mustering much offense.

The main storyline for the White Sox is the return of Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon, each coming off injury-plagued 2008 seasons. Contreras's story is simply remarkable, he wasn't expected to make much of an impact until the All-Star break or later and here is he, starting Game #4. Colon makes his first appearance in a White Sox uniform since 2004. In limited action against the current Twins' roster, he has had some success, only allowing a .229 BAA and has yet to serve up a home run.

Finally, on Sunday Mark Buehrle makes his 2nd start of the season. After a good, but uninspiring debut Opening Day, he will be opposed by Nick Blackburn, who last faced the Sox in the aforementioned Play-Off Game, going 6.1 innings, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits. As for Saturday's starter, Francisco Liriano, who has seemingly been around for ever, has had very limited exposure to the White Sox roster; only facing 5 current players 15 total times.

This series also marks the return of Joe Crede to the South Side, fresh off signing a deal with the Twins. It's weird to see him parading around in their goofy pinstripes, but the Sox have planned a short video tribute for Crede and he has the option to make a quick address to the fans. So bust out those #24 jerseys one more time.

UP NEXT: Tampa Bay Rays, ALDS (Updated)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: at Tampa Bay, Thursday, Oct. 2, 1:30 PM
Game 2: at Tampa Bay, Friday, Oct. 3, 6 PM
Game 3: at Chicago, Sunday, Oct. 5, Time TBA
Game 4: at Chicago, Monday, Oct. 6, Time TBA -*
Game 5: at Tampa Bay, Wednesday, Oct. 8, Time TBA -*

Games 4 & 5, of course, are if necessary. All times are in Chicago time. All games will be aired on TBS.

Some key Rays stats... They scored 774 runs this season (4.78 RPG), 9th best in the American League. 142 stolen bases, the most in the American League (yikes). 30.8 at bats per HR, 4th best in the A.L. 3.82 overall ERA, 2nd best in the A.L. 3.35 ERA vs. the Sox, 3rd best mark in the A.L., and best of the 6 teams that played the Sox at least 10 times this year. Allowed 40 HR in September, 2nd most in the A.L. that month.

Per usual, the Sox are getting very little love; most national, local, and even electronic pundits are raving about the Rays, picking the Rays, etc.

So why will the White Sox win? Pressure. The Sox pushed themselves to the brink of elimination and had to do something no team has ever done in the 130+ years of MLB history; beat three different teams in three different days to finish a season. Maybe they stumbled toward the very end of the year, but when the clock was about to strike midnight, they answered the call. There's no pressure on them; no one expects them to win, while the Rays have been the darling story of the 2008 season; the champs of the best division in baseball, and a cute pick to win the American League and maybe the World Series.

Pressure.

The series kicks off later today, and Javier Vazquez will get the nod to start Game 1. OK, that's not news to anyone by now, but I am surprised at how many folks are up in a tiff about this. I know Javy didn't make any friends these last few weeks, first by essentially saying how he doesn't care about any of this since he's just focused on that beach in Puerto Rico, and then by imploding against Minnesota and Cleveland, further cementing his reputation as a big game choker, and turning in a 12-16 record and 4.67 ERA, one of his statistcally worst seasons of his career.

I get that, but the bottom line here is that the Sox do not need to win both games in Tampa. Even if Javier lays another egg, if the Sox can win one of the first two, they'll be sitting very pretty heading home to Chicago. Regarldess of how Vazquez performs, the move allows Buehrle, Floyd, and Danks to get back to regular rest and hopefully perform to the best of their abilities.

Javy v. Scott Shields, 1:30 PM.

This is Kind of a Big Deal... at Minnesota, July 28-31

MINNESOTA TWINS

Well, well, well... Here we are, with just over 2 months left in the season and the White Sox holding a 2½ game lead on the Twins with a very important series in the Metrodome. Cue the early-2000's nightmares.

OFFENSE: 510 Runs (5th in A.L.), 4.90 RPG (5th), 71 HR (last in A.L.), .278 BA (3rd), .315 BA with RISP (1st)

PITCHING: 4.29 team ERA (9th), 250 BB (best in A.L.), .278 BAA (13th), 3.22 Home ERA (2nd), 5.76 ERA in last 7 days (11th)

WHY I'M TERRIFIED: All I need to do is think about seeing eye singles off Keith Foulke find holes in the infield, Carlos Lee losing balls in the white ceiling, and Torii Hunter robbing us of everything from shallow singles to home runs over the baggy in center field. Minnesota is 34-19 at home this season and they've stayed in this race despite every indication they shouldn't.

WHY I'M CONFIDENT: The last time these two teams met in early June, the Sox held a 2½ game lead on the Twins and absolutely mauled them to the tune of a 4-game sweep at the Cell in which the Sox outscored Minnesota 40-15. Despite the Sox's recent pitching struggles, the Twins have been just as bad; they're 5.76 ERA over the past week is one of the worst in baseball and almost a full run worse than the American League average over that time span.

THEIR LAST SERIES: Won 2 of 3 from the Indians in Cleveland.

PROBABLE PITCHERS: We lead off with our ace, Mark Buehrle tonight, who is 10-5 with a 4.02 career ERA at the Metrodome in 17 career games (15 starts). The Twins counter with Kevin Slowey who was rocked by the Sox in his last start against us, pitching only 3 innings and allowing 8 runs on 10 hits.

Tuesday, Clayton Richard makes his 2nd career start of his career and his first on the road. The Twins have not announced who will counter Richard, but that would be Glen Perkins' spot in the rotation. He pitched well in his last start and I can't find any health-related reason why he wouldn't go Tuesday, but if not Perkins; Franciso Liraino?

Wednesday, Gavin Floyd gets the start and 2nd chance to no-hit the Twins. Of course, Floyd took a no-no into the 9th on May 6th before having it broken up by Joe Mauer. Livan Hernandez will look to eat some more innings for Minnesota, however, in 6 starts since his last start against the Sox, Livan has pitched only 34 innings and has an unsightly 5.77 ERA and .336 BAA.

Finally, in the finale, its a battle of staff-low ERA's. John Danks (3.18) and Scott Baker (3.38) tangle for the 2nd time this season. On April 9, Baker defeated Danks in Chicago in a 12-5 Twins win. Danks allowed 7 runs in just over 2 innings of work, while Baker was slightly more effectve, pitching just enough innings to qualify for the win while allowing 3 runs.

Next Series: at Detroit, July 25-27

DETROIT TIGERS (52-49, 3rd, 5<sub>½ GB)
When the Tigers pulled the trigger on the megadeal that brought Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to Detroit, baseball experts and prognosticators couldn't keep themselves from gushing over Detroit... Would they win 100 games? Would they return to the World Series? How great will the AL Central race between Detroit and Cleveland be? Bla, bla, bla. Flash forward to the end of July and the Tigers have been buried in the Central pretty much since Day 1, and just in time for a macthup with the Sox, they're playing good ball again. After fighting to get back to .500 in mid-June, Detroit sort of floated with a break-even record until this past week, when the salvaged the final game of their series in Baltimore and swept the Royals in Kansas City. Riding a 4-game win streak, they sit only 5½ games behind the closest they've been to the division lead since they were 42-40 and 5 games back on July 1.

OFFENSE: 507 R (3rd in A.L.), 5.02 RPG (3rd), 969 H (3rd), 115 HR (3rd), .276 Team BA (4th)
PITCHING: 4.36 ERA (11th), .266 BAA (9th), 4.44 Starter ERA (9th), 4.22 Bullpen ERA (12th)
HOME SPLITS: .302 BA (2nd), .361 OBP (3rd), .492 SLG (2nd), 4.41 ERA (12th)

LAST 10 SOX/DET GAMES: Memorably, the Tigers swept the last series between these two, a 3-game set in mid June at Comerica. That was the series immediately after the Sox's 4-game sweep of Minnesota. The teams met 6 times in April, in Detroit during the first weekend of the series that the Sox swept (which concluded with that 13-2 pounding of Justin Verlander and the Tigers on ESPN), and then the next weekend at the Cell, in which the Sox took 2 of 3 from Detroit, including back-to-back shutouts. The Sox's 7-0 win over Detroit on April 12 was the first of Gavin Floyd's flirtations with a no-no. The Tigers beat the White Sox on the last day of the 2007 season, so the team have split their last 10 right down the middle.

NON-OBVIOUS PLAYER TO WATCH: In a lineup full of sluggers like Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, and Gary Sheffield you might be surprised to find that Marcus Thames leads the team in home runs and is outslugging everyone who has picked up a bat for Detroit outside of Matt Joyce (another guy, I guess to watch).

PROBABLE PITCHERS: Tonight, Gavin Floyd takes the hill for the Sox. His career against the Tigers has been well documented and brilliant, Gavin has started 6 games against Detroit over the last two years and has allowed only 12 total runs, good for an ERA of 2.43 and record of 3-0. Detroit counters with Nate Robertson, who had a career year for the Tigers during the World Series run in 2006, but has been on the downslide since, though that's not shocking as his career ERA is 4.74 and the Sox have hit him well, especially big guns like Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome, who are hitting .371/5/9 and .471/2/3 against him respectively.

Tomorrow night, John Danks looks to rebound from his first truly bad outing since April 9. Danks' ERA was pushed over 3 for the first time since June 9, but he is still in the Top 5 of the American League. Justin Verlander will start for Detroit, and while he got off to a rocky start this season, he has turned his shit around since he was 1-7 with an ERA over 6 on May 14. In 12 starts since then, he's gone 7-2 with a 2.53 ERA in 81.2 innings and a BAA that's under .200. If there is one alarming stat, however, it would be lower than usual K/BB ratio, which even during his good stretch is right around 2:1.

Finally, Javier Vazquez goes for the Sox in Sunday afternoon's finale against Zach Miner. Vazquez has pitched poorly of late and Comerica Park has not been his friend. Though he did throw a 5-hit shutout against the Tigers in Detroit on May 22, 2005 (while still a member of the Diamondbacks), since joining the Sox in 2006, allowing 11 earned runs in his other 9.1 IP. Miner, who has only started 2 games since 2006, started Monday at Kansas City and pitched 6 innings of scoreless ball. He started 1 game in May of last year in a double header against the Red Sox in which he took the loss despite the fact he gave up only 1 earned run in 5.1 innings, but was used as a reliever from there on out. In 2006, he appeared in 27 games for the American League champs, starting 16 of them, but he also posted his career high ERA of 4.84.

Notes: Reflections on Wednesday's comeback, Clayton Richard's debut, a rundown of some more Sox-related news items, and this week's Minor League Recap will come tonight, since I can't watch the game... Fucking WCIU.</sub>

Upcoming Series: vs. Texas, July 21-23

TEXAS RANGERS
51-48, 9½ GB Los Angeles.

OFFENSE: 540 R (1st in A.L.), 5.51 RPG (1st), 118 HR (2nd), .281 BA (t-1st), .350 OBP (2nd), .457 SLG (1st)
PITCHING: 5.21 overall ERA (last), 5.30 starter's ERA (last), 5.09 bullpen ERA (last), bullpen has thrown 357.1 innings, most in the American League.

The Rangers have the American League's most potent offense by a long shot. Texas averages 5.51 runs per game, which is almost half a run better than 2nd place Boston (0.46), the same difference that separates the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in 8th overall in the A.L. in RPG. So, yeah, Texas can rake.

Aside from being an obvious matchup of the league's best offense and one of the league's best pitching staffs, this Rangers/Sox series has taken on more notoriety thanks to the feud between Ozzie Guillen and Rangers closer C.J. Wilson. It all stems from last week, when the White Sox dropped 2 of 3 in Arlington, Wilson was closing out a non-save situation on Sunday and apparently "showed up" the White Sox hitters after striking them out. Ozzie apparently started yelling at Wilson from the dugout, and the two have had a little war of words in the media since. At last check, Ozzie called Wilson a cocky, shitty pitcher. If the Rangers lead a game by 3 runs or less in the 9th inning this week, things may be slightly interesting.

THEIR LAST SERIES: Lost 2 of 3 in Minnesota, including a 6-0 decision on Friday night, the first time they've been shut out in 2008.

THEIR INJURIES: Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been playing with a strained groin and also had a pretty bad cold over the All-Star break, but he's available and will probably start Monday. Joaquin Benoit hasn't pitched since July 2nd, but has been working in the bullpen but is still nursing a shoulder injury. Reliever Kason Gabbard is out for the rest of the year after undergoing surgery to have a bone spur removed from his pitching elbow. Finally, Hank Blalock returned to the Rangers lineup for the first time since late April this past weekend. Blalock has been hampered by wrist and hamstring injuries.

OBVIOUS PLAYER(S) TO WATCH: C.J. Wilson, I suppose. Will the taunting continue? Will Wilson throw at White Sox hitters. The suspense is killing me! Aside from that, All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler leads the American League with a .330 batting average and All-Star outfielder, Home Run Derby megastar (and runner-up), and DARE posterboy Josh Hamilton has 21 home runs, tied for 3rd in the A.L. and 95 RBIs, 22 ahead of 2nd place Justin Morneau.

NON-OBVIOUS PLAYER TO WATCH: Catcher Taylor Teagarden, who was just called up from the minor leagues before the Twins series. With Saltalamacchia hurting, the Rangers have used the opportunity to promote one of their most promising youngsters. Teagarden, a member of the American Olympic team, had a great year at the plate in '07, but had struggled so far at Frisco (AA) and Oklahoma (AAA). Texas already has Gerald Laird and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whom they aquired about a year ago from Atlanta for Mark Teixeira, so it's uncertain how much time Teagarden will get, but if you get a chance to see him, he's another potential member of the group of you and upcoming stars.

PROBABLE PITCHERS: On Monday, the Sox will send Javier Vazquez to the mound for the first time since the All-Star Break. Hopefully the extended break has helped Javier. Since June 6, Javier has started 7 games, only pitched 42.1 innings, and allowed 33 runs (32 earned) on 53 hits, good for a 6.80 ERA and atrocious .310 BAA. The Rangers will counter with Eric Hurley, a young righty who will be making his 5th career start. He's had mixed results so far, but after allowing 4 runs in 6 innings in his Major League debut June 12 at Kansas City, he has lowered his ERA in every start, to his current 3.57 mark.

Tuesday would have been Jose Contreras's start, but with the Count sidelined for the next 15 days, the Sox will have to turn elsewhere. Though I've seen no official mention of it on the main website, the fact that Clayton Richard has apparently been called up from AAA makes him the most obvious candidate. Richard has pitched well in 2 stops in the White Sox minor league system; Birmingham and Charlotte. He is a combined 12-6 with a 2.44 ERA. If not Richard, then the Sox will probably turn to a tag-team start by Nick Masset and DJ Carrasco. The Rangers will start Luis Mendoza, a 24-year old lefty from Mexico who will be making career start #10. Though he started the season in Texas, he was sent back to the minors after he posted an 0-2 record with a 9.31 ERA in his first three starts. Since coming back in mid-June, Mendoza worked out of the bullpen, but his last three appearances have been starts. Though his overall numbers are not intimidating (2-3, 6.28 ERA), he pitched well in his last start on July 11 against the White Sox when he pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 8.

Finally, in the series finale on Wednesday, Mark Buehrle attempts to get back to .500. After a slow start, Mark has been having a terrific season. In his last 10 starts, Mark is 5-3 with a 2.70 ERA. Texas will send veteran Kevin Millwood, who is 6-6 with an ERA above 5. Though Millwood has a career 2.81 ERA against the Sox, he only has a 1-4 record in 8 career starts to show for it. So far in July, Millwood has pitched 21.2 innings and opponents are hitting .361 against him.