white sox

We arrived at the Chicago White Sox' US Cellular Field and managed to find some parking for free on 31st and Natural Ave. Not the best area but can't beat the price. The walk to the stadium was around 12 minutes through the streets of Chicago. We walked through the parking lot, saw some weary tailgates, but nothing compared to Milwaukee.  

Tampa Bay forced Alex Rodriguez to wait at least one more day to join the 600-home run club, and the second-place Rays matched their longest winning streak of the season at seven games. The Rays pulled within one game of the American League East-leading Yankees with their 11th win in 12 home games. Derek Jeter singled and Nick Swisher homered to begin the game against Davis (9-9), who settled down to limit the Yankees to one hit - Robinson Cano's sixth-inning, broken bat single - and three walks over af  

Winners of six in a row, the Minnesota Twins host the Seattle Mariners tonight in the second of three weekend games between the AL squads. Felix Hernandez will get the ball for Seattle tonight, and while this season has been bitterly disappointing for the Mariners, the ace of their staff has been as good as expected. The stud righty was roughed up a bit on Monday, however, allowing nine hits and four earned runs over seven innings of a loss to the White Sox. Hernandez is 1-0 against Minnesota this sea  

Roy Oswalt got the pregame hype, but it was Washington's Craig Stammen who carried a shutout into the seventh inning as the Nationals roughed up Oswalt in his Philadelphia debut, halting the Phillies' eight-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory last night in Washington. Oswalt (6-13), a former 20-game winner acquired from Houston in a four-player trade Thursday, allowed five runs — four earned — and seven hits in six innings. He walked two, struck out four and hit two batters.  

Tim Lincecum has altered his windup ever so slightly. Starting Friday night, Lincecum began bringing his hands over his head as he came through his windup. It's something he did in college , and it helps him stay back a little longer as he strides toward the plate.  

The trades just kept on coming in rapid succession yesterday, and we're likely to see more today before the trade deadline officially passes. Of very little fantasy relevance: Austin Kearns to the Yankees . But there were a couple of trades that will have a lot of impact in terms of fantasy.  

We hear the Cubs are making plans to honor recent Hall of Fame inductee Andre Dawson on Aug. 30, perhaps by retiring Dawson's No. 8 uniform. The Cubs host the Pirates that Monday night at Wrigley Field. The Nationals (previously the Expos with whom Dawson broke in) and the Marlins also are likely to retire his number.  

There are very few guarantees in baseball. But the Red Sox have one this weekend as they try to pick up increasingly valuable ground on the Yankees and Rays in the American League East race. The Yankees and Rays are playing each other, meaning one of them is guaranteed to lose every day this weekend.  

While the White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics on Friday night -- their 12th straight home victory -- it turns out they lost a couple of battles during the afternoon. At least, according to some reports out there. We'll start with the trade of Lance Berkman to the Yankees.