Are the White Sox hitting their stride?

August 20, 8:03 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

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After their 15-3 win over Seattle Wednesday afternoon, the White Sox moved to 8-1 in their last nine games.

They've won their last three series, and it has been in dominant fashion, scoring 74 runs while allowing just 18. That's good for a run differential of +56.

The pitching has been great, the offense has been great, and as a result, the team has looked the best they have since late June and early July.

But can this stretch of good play be credited more to the White Sox or their opponents?

In their last nine games, the White Sox have played Kansas City, Oakland, and Seattle—record-wise, the three worst teams in the American League.

The starters they've faced have been Brian Bannister (5.36 ERA), Luke Hochevar (5.44), Kyle Davies (4.71), Dallas Braden (4.50), Greg Smith (3.91), Gio Gonzalez (7.53), Jarrod Washburn (4.95), Felix Hernandez (3.23), and R.A. Dickey (5.55).

That's not exactly any great competition, outside of Smith and Hernandez. However, the way the White Sox have beat these pitchers is a good sign. They haven't just beat these pitchers—they've destroyed them.

Paul Konerko has showed signs of breaking out of his season-long slump, hitting .300 in his last ten games. Nick Swisher has also been hitting the ball well as of late, posting a .303 average with four home runs in his last ten games. Alexei Ramirez has also added four home runs of his own in the last ten games.

Nobody has taken advantage of the Sox' recent competition more than Carlos Quentin, who is hitting .364 with four home runs and nine RBI in his last ten games.

This stretch has been the best the offense has looked all year. They're not just blasting home runs for their only form of scoring, but they're getting timely base hits as well.

But the pitching, which had been inconsistent since the All-Star break, has looked really good lately. Javier Vazquez has tossed back-to-back eight-inning starts, allowing just one earned run in those 16 innings while striking out 18. John Danks has only allowed three earned runs in his last two starts, and the Lance Broadway/Clayton Richard combo allowed two and zero earned runs in their respective starts.

The bullpen has also been better as of late, something this team will need down the stretch with Scott Linebrink's return in limbo.

We'll know more about where this team stands after this weekend's three-game series wth the Tampa Bay Rays, record-wise the best team in Major League Baseball as of Tuesday's games.

Don't expect the Sox to beat the Rays in the same manner they did the Royals, A's, and Mariners. However, if the Sox can take two of three from Tampa Bay and keep pitching like they have been, it'll be a great sign for the rest of the year.

Until then, it won't be fair to say the White Sox are hitting their stride just yet.