The White Sox come in to the tilt with far greater momentum than the Tigers, having won both series since the all-star break and picking up the 18th perfect game in MLB history about two packs of Leyland’s cigs ago.  The Tigers meanwhile have only taken one game since the break, while losing five by a total of six runs.  Four of those games were by a score of 2-1. 

The depressing part for Detroit has been the outstanding pitching from unheralded starters that has gone completely to waste.  They are struggling at the plate in the worst way and it’s seemingly the worst possible timing for a series of importance. 

One thing going against the Sox has to be the pitching match-ups.  Leyland scheduled his post-break rotation to set up for this series and will trot out Verlander, Jackson, and Porcello this series, along with Eddie Bonine for tonight’s second leg of the double dip.  The Sox will have Contreras, Colon, Floyd, and Richard for their part. 

I have no stats whatsoever to back this up (what’s new) but it seems like Contreras kills the Tigers.  Gavin Floyd has gone six innings or more in every start but one since late May, and Clayton Richard is coming off one of his best performances as a major leaguer.  Even with the pitching match-ups favoring Detroit, you have to like the White Sox to take at least two games. 

Alright, well the games get started here in about an hour, so I’ll direct you to the lineups here.  Looks like Carlos Guillen will be making his return for the Tigs today after a long stint on the DL and DeWayne Wise will be rewarded for his heroic catch with a spot for him and his .196 average at the top of the order for the Sox.

Sometime Wednesday night, Jake hears about the deal from his agent and gets off the phone with Scott Linebrink.

Who the hell is Scott Linebrink?  I know my agent said I played with that guy, but wow he must suck.  He had good things to say about Chicago though.  Great city, great people.  But why the hell would I leave sunny San Diego?  Right, my team is awful and this is my chance to get out!  Besides, the South Side can’t be that bad as long as I get a ride to the park in a tank…or Buehrle’s truck. Better sleep on it.

Peavy falls asleep, dreams about life as a White Sox pitcher.

Not a bad game today, sure we lost 4-3, but Thornton gave up those runs after I was yanked in the seventh.  Plus, you’d think we could muster more offense than three solo homers.  Oh my God, is that Ozzie?  He’s got blood all over his face and he’s swinging a chain over his head!  Why is he yelling at me in Spanish?!! The only words I understand are pitch count, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland and 2005.  Oh shit he’s going to kill me.

Peavy wakes up.

Wow, that Ozzie Guillen is one scary sumbitch.  Whatever, I’ll check out the game today and see if I can make a decision.  I really want to get out of San Diego.

1st Inning

Alright, here we go let’s see what they’ve got.  Oh, Bartolo Colon is starting.  He’s not too bad but man, he hasn’t skipped a meal since, well ever.  1-0 after one isn’t too bad.  These are usually low scoring affairs when the Twins and Sox play and I’m used to that.

2nd Inning

Oh wow, seven runs in the second?  All unearned?  I guess I can add poor defense to the Cons side of the ledger, right under “that one time fans attacked a first base coach.”

4th Inning

I fell asleep there for a while, it’s kind of early out here.  Hmm, 10-0.  Was that another error by Betemit?  Who’s that guy they used to have at third base?  Oh yeah, there he is.  Man this isn’t looking too good, come to think of it the weather out here is so nice, and I really like the golf courses.

6th Inning

Look at all those singles and walks!  There’s Mauer with a grand slam.  I’m going to need more paper for the Cons side of this thing, seems like a lot of home runs flying out of this park.

8th Inning

20 to nothing?!!  Forget pitching for these guys, I can’t wait to hit against them.  Too bad they got rid of Nick Swisher, he could have stopped the bleeding a few innings ago.  Come to think of it, Nick left sunny California a couple years ago for Chicago.  Wonder how that worked out for him.

Gets a call from his agent Thursday afternoon.

Well, better give it to him straight.  “Tell them sorry, I’m scared of the AL.”

Now it seems that Peavy could be heading to the White Sox as the Sox and Padres have reportedly agreed to a deal that would send four players to San Diego for the ace.  Apparently the only step left is approval by Peavy, who called former teammate Scott Linebrink to do some scouting on Chicago.

A presence like Jake Peavy could drastically change things for the White Sox, who before winning their last two had been in a serious funk, dropping 5.5 games behind Detroit for the lead in the Central Division.

It’s been reported that the deal includes Clayton Richard and Aaron Poreda.  They are both young lefties, with Poreda being a former #1 pick.  According to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, first round pick Gordon Beckham is not part of the trade.

This would be huge news for the Sox and we’ll try to keep you updated throughout the day.

**Update: Apparently Peavy has expressed that he wishes to remain in the NL, but there is still a possibility he okays the deal.

***Update: No deal

The first thing I thought was good for Jenks for shooting straight, followed quickly by the idea that he would almost certainly be suspended or fined a decent amount.  Well, he wasn’t suspended and he was fined $750 by the league. 

Wait, $750?  Now I’m not saying Jenks did something terrible and should be fined more, it’s just that the number really surprised me.  I mean, how often do you see a fine under a grand these days for something other than showing up late to the ballpark because you were out too late the night before.  The fine was certainly wimpy, but really MLB had to do something after Jenks came out and said it was intentional. 

It’s not like Jenks threw at Kinsler’s head, like Josh Beckett did a while back.  Like the big reliever said, if a half dozen of his players are going to get hit, he’s going to send a message.  It’s part of the game. 

I’m also looking at you Milwaukee.  The Brewers were complaining over the weekend about a pitch thrown “at Ryan Braun’s head.”  Pitches get away, it happens.  Plus, you look like idiots complaining about getting hit in the head when it clearly hit the bat.  It was a foul ball, move on. 

Really though, I’m just worried about whether Dempster is going to have to pay a fine equivalent to an expensive dinner tab.  Or in Jenks’ case, a moderate tab for his lunch.