White Sox Week In Review: Now What?

I would be lying through my teeth if I said this one didn't hurt. Lying through gritted, gnashing, grinding teeth.

The Cubs were down on Friday. They had lost their last three to the tough Rays, with the final game slipping away on a dramatic grand slam off the bat of Carl Crawford. The Sox, meanwhile, took care of the visiting Pirates, sending them packing with a sweep of their own. And in Friday's game, the ChiSox had their crosstown rivals on the ropes with a 3-1 lead.

Then, back-to-back home runs erased the leadand any momentum the Sox had coming into the series.

Grit. Gnash. Grind.

The team will most likely be looking to put this one behind and focus on winning games and keeping the rest of the AL Central off their backs, especially after a subpar 3-3 week. But for the die-hard and average Sox fan, this one hurts. And the question we're all asking is: now what?

The lost weekend

Everyone pointed to this series as big. Big for both teams, in fact, as both teams came into the opening act of the City Series on top of their respective divisions. The Sun-Times' Carol Slezak correctly predicted that the White Sox had more to gain from a series win, however. The Cubs had the home advantage (a 29-8 record before Friday) and the media hype all said that the Cubs were the team to beat.

The Sox were basically seen as a first-half wonder; a team that had defied the prognosticators but were a misstep away from dropping out of sight. The Sox could use this series as a statement to the Cubs and the rest of the league.

Instead, they got swept. Were there any bright spots at all? As bad as it was, there were some things were Sox fans to be happy about:

John Danks

The youngblood called Wrigley Field a "shithole," then backed his words up and held the Cubs to one run through six innings. Let the armchair quarterbacks say he should have started the seventh. Danks is pitching very well for a number-5 starter, and he looks able to last through the summer.

Jermaine Dye

Kosuke Fukudome has wowed crowds around Wrigleyville, spawned a racist catchphrase (anyone else see a problem with "Horry Kow!"?), and jumped to the top of the local list of outfielders. But guess what? He's a slap hitter who doesn't have Ichiro hits or Iguchi's power. Yet and still, he was named to the "All-City" team in both papers.

So Jermaine Dye went out and hit three homers against the Cubs. Along with a double and a single in tonight's loss, he batted .385 over the weekend and has caught fire since the beginning of the week. JD will take some pressure of the rest of the offense.

DeWayne Wise

I hope he's not just a flash in the pan. He had two hits in the game he started against the Pirates and three hits against the Cubs this weekend. Maybe the Sox started him because he has some experience against National League pitching, but I like his speed and he looks like he can hit around .280. If anything, Wise can be a dependable bat off the bench or every few days.

So now what?

Other than that, there wasn't much to hang your hat on this weekend. The Sox sweep of the Pirates does look very big now, as the Twins handled their National League competition and shrank the Sox division lead to one and a half games.

The Sox need to go on a run of consistent winning. It doesn't have to be a long winning streak, but something along the lines of three wins in a row, one loss, two wins, a loss, four or five wins. A run like that would really get things going in the right direction.

This sweep was almost a microcosm of the season. Friday and Saturday, the Sox were good, but not quite good enough. Sound familiar?  It should; I said it in a column awhile back. Either way, the Sox need to pick up the pieces.

If the Sox are in the lead by the All-Star break, they'll have three days to figure things out. However, they will need a run akin to 1983 to even resemble a playoff contender.

Until then, keep waving the Pennant.