All three teams faced near must-win games Wednesday, and all came through -- late.
Chicago, which would have fallen eight games out in the AL Central and 4 1/2 behind second-place Minnesota, rallied against Twins closer Joe Nathan with four runs in the ninth for a 4-2 victory.
"Hopefully we start playing better and have a little more fun, at least have a little more fun," [Sox manager Ozzie] Guillen said. "You think we're out [of post-season contention]. People think we're out, just go out there and enjoy it. Hopefully things turn around."
In surprisingly out of character news, Ozzie Guillen is losing his ability to remain positive in light of the unfortunate, existential things happening to the White Sox lately. They've suffered fourth walk-off losses in the last two and a half weeks, the percentages are failing, lineup changes are fruitless... basically Ozzie is standing on the dugout steps while everything else cracks and breaks and is swallowed into the Earth.
Today's Dugout takes a step back to examine the psychological reasons behind the Chicago collapse. Hey guys, it's the examined life!
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Scott Feldman is having a big season for the Rangers, especially on the road. Feldman beat the Twins, 3-0, on Saturday in Minnesota. Although Feldman lasted just 5 2/3 innings, the scoreless outing helped him improve to 10-1 with a 2.92 ERA on the road. Feldman has won his last six road starts, equaling Adam Wainwright for the longest streak in the majors this season.
For the season, Feldman is 14-4 with a 3.72 ERA. He has a chance to be the first Rangers pitcher to win 15 games with an ERA below 4.00 since Ken Hill went 16-10 with a 3.63 ERA in 1996.
NEW YORK -- After the Chicago White Sox on Friday fell to third place for the first time since the morning of July 31, manager Ozzie Guillen said he is "confused."
Robinson Cano's 10th-inning, three-run homer for the Yankees sent the White Sox to their fourth walk-off loss in 16 days, Guillen said he is on the verge of no longer being "positive" about his club.
"We change lineups every night, for different reasons," Guillen said. "We try to get a lot of people playing time -- not working. I try to be positive. But meanwhile, you can't be positive too long.
"We've got a lot of games left. You never know what's going to happen. But if we continue to play the way we are, it's going to be shorter than people think -- or going to be longer than people think. It's going to be a long month for us."
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.
Each year the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox play six times. Six. Out of 162 total games. Those games aren't any more relevant than six games between the Twins and Cubs or Brewers and White Sox. Of course, there are millions of misguided fans who believe there's a rivalry between the two teams, a notion that is only perpetuated when our President talks about how the White Sox play "real baseball." FanHouse's resident Cubs fan (Matt Snyder) and resident White Sox fan (Tom Fornelli) got together to discuss the aura surrounding what shouldn't be a rivalry.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Milton Bradley has often been called a five-tool player. Guess one of those tools isn't math.
The Cubs outfielder had a bad day. He caught a one-out fly ball in the eighth inning and then flipped the ball into the stands as a runner scored from third on a sacrifice fly. Bradley probably had no play at the plate, so the error was more strange than costly.
"I wasn't embarrassed," Bradley said. "I've done a whole lot of things to be embarrassed about. That's water under the bridge. The run was going to score, the fan got a souvenir. Worst case scenario."
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
We had to break the trend. Sure, the Dodgers might have a better record than everyone else -- but competition has to count for something, doesn't it? The Dodgers have mutilated the mediocre-at-best NL West to the tune of 26-9. This means they are 14-11 against everyone else. Is that a top-two team in baseball? Hardly, I'll take the heated-rivals: Yankees (who have overcome a slow start to go 19-7 since May 12) and Red Sox (18-8 against the best division in baseball) as the top two.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
In surprisingly out of character news, 
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