6-3 win puts Sox back at .500 and some other thoughts on Detroit and pitching

June 30, 12:02 AMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

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Maybe the Sox are starting to come together after all.

It's not been extremely pretty, but the White Sox have not lost a series since dropping three of five to Detroit June 8-11. Since that series, the Sox have a record of 10-5. That's nothing to get overly excited about, but at the least, it's some nice progress.

While nine of those 10 wins have come against NL teams, they've been against pretty good senior circuit teams in the Brewers, Cubs, Reds, and Dodgers. Taking two of three from the Dodgers was extremely impressive given the Dodgers' record and how the Sox scrapped for their wins.

So, we're nearing the end of June and the Sox sit at .500. Monday night's game was the first in a stretch of 10 games—six with Cleveland, four with Kansas City—that theoretically should be easier wins, save Zack Greinke's start against the Sox Friday night. This team has already nicely made up some ground in the past two weeks, but if the Sox really do want to contend for the division, they need to continue to play well and beat the teams they should beat.

Going 7-3 over this stretch could be just what the Sox need to head into the All-Star break with some kind of momentum, even if they fall on their face in a three-game series against the Twins in the Metrodome just before everybody breaks for home or St. Louis.

What this team needs to do is tread just a few games above .500 and wait for Detroit to collapse. If all goes well, it'll be at that point when the Sox can pounce and overtake the Tigers (or Twins) for the division lead. They don't need some grand winning streak right now, but they do need to get above .500 and stay there for the time being.

It's still hard for me to see Detroit sticking around for the long haul, though. Yes, Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson have been dominant and may continue to be baseball's best 1-2 combo all the way through September. That wouldn't surprise me. While Jackson may have a noticeable low BABIP, there's a good chance that number will stay low throughout the season, a la 2008 Gavin Floyd.

What would surprise me is if Rick Porcello regressed in the second half and the Tigers struggled with rotational depth through August and September. The old saying was "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain," but maybe this year it'll be "Verlander and Jackson and pray for...um...action" or something along those lines, but less lame.

Right now, it's fair to say the White Sox would have the edge on the Tigers if it came down to depth in the starting rotation. If you haven't noticed, Gavin Floyd has been stellar ever since Peter Gammons reported that the White Sox thought they had corrected what was believed to be some pitch-tipping back when the whole Jake Peavy saga was going down (side now: how incredibly lucky are the Sox given Peavy's injury?). Since then, Floyd's numbers have been mind-blowingly good. Seriously. He hasn't gone less than six innings in any of those eight starts (he's thrown 7.0 or more innings six times) and has allowed no more than three runs in those outings.

Floyd's almost at the point where he can do no wrong on the mound. He's looked as confident as ever, he's throwing his curveball for strikes, and he's attacking the strike zone in a way he didn't even do last year. I was skeptical of Floyd's success coming into the season, but he's blown me away with how good he's been in the last month or so.

On top of Floyd, John Danks has fired four straight solid starts, which is great to see after how much he struggled throughout the month of May. So there are to signs to be encouraged.

While Mark Buehrle hasn't had the best June and Jose Contreras shouldn't be expected to repeat those back-to-back eight-inning shutouts anytime soon, barring injury, both should be solid parts to the Sox' rotation.

Yes, Clayton Richard hasn't been very good of late, but if he can at least get back to being a serviceable No. 5 starter, the Sox will be in good shape. If not, there's always Aaron Poreda or Jack Egbert, who has put up some nice numbers ever since returning to the starting rotation in Charlotte. Bartolo Colon could come back strong from his "injury" too, but that's not something that should be counted on.

Or, the Sox could make a trade to shore up the back of the rotation. I don't want to get into the business of speculation, but if the Sox do go out and make a deal, it probably would be for a stopgap fifth starter because they don't think Poreda is ready to be a full-time starting pitcher. That's all, of course, contingent on Richard being dropped from the rotation, which hasn't even been discussed to the media yet as far as I know.

At least this team has pulled themselves from the boring, frustration doldrums that were the month of May and at least made June a more enjoyable month.

***Check back tomorrow for a transcript of my conversation with top prospect Tyler Flowers. Lots of good stuff in there not just on him, but on Dayan Viciedo, Aaron Poreda, Jordan Danks, and Gordon Beckham. Stay tuned.***