Pins and Needles

The White Sox won last night, 6-1 over the Reds, and the Astros lost to the Rays with another game to go against Tampa tonight. Suddenly, I’m on pins and needles. If Houston loses, we’ll pull to within a game for likely first-round homefield advantage. Why, if the Astros keep on losing and the Mariners win out, there’d be a tie for first in the AL West, and how cool would that be, provided the Sox take their final series of the season with Detroit? Gavin Sheets homered for the second time in two games last night and drove in three. That’s eleven homeruns and 31 RBIs in 151 at-bats. Not bad for a rookie whose first game was on June 29. Andrew Vaughn went into the season gathering most of the attention as the rookie to watch and a possible Rookie-of-the-Year candidate. But Vaughn’s been up and down all year, and down lately, batting .147 over his last thirty games. When things are going right, one player’s struggles lead to another player’s chance. It’s all a variation on Wally Pipp. I want both Sheets and Vaughn to shine in the postseason. And the more games they have at home the better.