It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

A's 4 White Sox 2- Esteban Loaiza held the White Sox to just enough runs to allow a pretty week A's O to win the game. The A's were 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position but still scraped together four runs. How'd they do it-- aggressive base running, defense, situational hitting-- small ball. Now how about that? The game so pissed off Sox manager Ozzie Guillen that after the game he launched into a profanity filled tirade about the lack of booze in the visiting locker room. Anyways, the Angels won so the A's remain five up but the magic number is now 11.

Cardinals 14 Giants 4-- It was Giants' fans who had the profanity filled tirade as the Cardinals just basically beat the snot out of the Giants. Scott Rolen did most of the damage with two home runs and seven RBIs. The troublesome thing for the Giants, the one that is giving a lot of people a case of the "oh noes" is the team's starting pitching. What was once the only steady, reliable (well somewhat reliable) aspect of the team is now falling apart. Brad Hennessey was the pitcher who got shelled, but as Dante (Clerks not "Inferno")would say, "he wasn't even supposed to be here today." It was Jason Schmidt's start but he had to miss the game with an achy back. A missed start with two weeks left in the season is not good. Throw in Morris' unreliability, Lowry's shakiness, and an unsettled fifth starter position and what you got is bad, bad news. The Dodgers, however, beat the Padres so while the Giants lost ground in the West, they didn't in the Wild Card where they are still 2 1/2 back.