The Twins and White Sox Games

Game 160: The Twins have the inside track with a fairly easy opponent in the Royals. Still, this is the majors and one shouldn't count the other out until they have a 20 run lead...Scouting Report:

Royals: Davies has burst into prominence in his last two starts. After throwing eight shutout innings against the Mariners, he got through the opening seven innings on Saturday against the White Sox without surrendering a run. Davies faced the minimum over that span and wound up surrendering just two runs and taking his second victory of the week. Davies has cited a quick tempo as the key to his recent success. He's challenging the strike zone with his best stuff and therefore has gotten away from his earlier penchant for high pitch counts.

Twins: Liriano rebounded from his roughest start since being recalled on Aug. 1 to deliver a gem against the Rays at Tropicana Field. The left-hander allowed just one run over seven innings to the playoff-bound Rays. Liriano struck out seven but found some trouble, issuing four walks. He is 6-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 10 starts since returning to the Majors. He’ll face the Royals for the fourth time this season. Two of those have come during his second stint with the Twins, and in those, Liriano has allowed just five earned runs over a combined 13 2/3 innings.

Game 159: The White Sox and Twins are neck and neck, with the Twins having a 1/2 game edge. The Sox have a tougher opponent in the Indians... and then one game against Detroit, should it be needed.

Scouting Report:

Indians: Lewis showed that he is, in fact, human in his third career start on Sunday, though he was still able to pick up his third win in as many opportunities. Lewis worked five innings and gave up three runs in the Indians' big win over the Tigers. His 15-inning scoreless inning streak was snapped in the second inning, when he allowed a run in on a double play. Lewis was finally touched up for his first career home run when Edgar Renteria launched one in his final inning of work. Surprisingly, though, Lewis, not known for his velocity or nasty stuff, picked up six strikeouts to go along with three walks. This will be Lewis' first career start against the White Sox.

White Sox: Danks responded to the challenge of what Ozzie Guillen dubbed as the team's biggest game of the year by throwing seven scoreless innings during the White Sox 3-0 victory Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Danks allowed four hits in seven-plus innings, striking out three and walking one, extending his scoreless innings streak to 13 straight. He threw 62 of his 90 pitches for strikes and will come back Friday on regular rest in a start that could lock down the American League Central title. Danks has a 0-1 record and 2.89 ERA in three starts against the Indians this season and is 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA at U.S. Cellular Field.

Forecast: Here's the thing. The Twins should just be given two of these next three games, meaning that the White Sox need to win three out of their next four to force a tie. Well... I do like the Royals chances in this one, but the Twins will take it with a score of 4-2. For the Sox, they are sending Danks, who should be a Ranger... (bitter much?)... and has great enough numbers, that he should take this one for the Sox... with a score of 3-2.

Home Plate