whitesoxnation

The last two weeks has been great for the American League Central. Interleague play allowed for winning streaks for virtually all members of the division. The Twins rattled off 10 and a row against interleague opponents while the Royals and the White Sox both posted 10 wins apiece against   National League opponents. The good feeling has continued for two teams in particular. If we look at the standings today, we see that it is a two man race between the Twins and the White Sox. This figures to stay this way for a while due to the pitching prowess of both of these teams and the resurgence of the White Sox offense. In the last 10 games, the White Sox have compiled a record of eight and two including sweeps of the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, while the Twins have compiled a record of seven and three over the last 10 games. This has provided a lot of separation between these two teams and the rest of the division. The White Sox are currently a game and a half in front of the Twins in seven games in front of the third-place Tigers. The Indians are a surprising 14 games behind the division leading White Sox and it appears that they figure they are too far behind due to the fact that they decided to trade pitching ace CC Sebathia to the Brewers for prospects. The only team that seems capable of joining the pennant race party by the Detroit Tigers. After floundering for the first few months of the season, the Tigers have begun to play better baseball. The Tigers are six and four over the last 10 games and have also compiled a record of 25 and 17 at home. The pitching for this team has begun to improve slightly and the heating is finally starting to live up to expectations. Things are about to get very interesting in the AL Central as the top three teams in the division are facing off against inter-division rivals. The White Sox start off with three games against the Kansas City Royals beginning tonight, while the Twins and the Tigers get set to play each other on Thursday. After this week, we will probably have a better idea as to whether or not the AL Central is a two or three team race. In my estimation if the Tigers go into the All-Star break more than 10 games back of the first-place team in the division whether it be the White Sox for the Twins, that it will take an unbelievable second half to get back into the race. But if the Tigers are within five or six games, they will have a real chance at getting back into the race. With the Tigers and the Twins playing each other this week the White Sox have a real chance of putting more distance between either the Tigers or the Twins if they are able to right the ship on the road, where the White Sox, as with many division leading teams this year has a subpar road record. This may in fact turn out to be one of the most important road trips of the season for the White Sox as they try to stay in front as we get to the All-Star break.

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