Last night was more then just a big game for the White Sox, it was a game that had to be won without any question. The Sox knew it as well. With just a .5 game lead going into the game against the Texas Rangers, it was do or die time!

Now we can say every game is do or die at this point but the Sox were just 2-6 in the last 8 games, so it was what without question a game they had to win. The best part of the show last night was that Mark Buehrle gave the fans one of his best performances of the year in my eyes. Pitching on just three day's rest, something he hadn't done since august of 2004, Buehrle went out and threw a gem. He went 7 1/3 innings giving up just one run to a Texas team who's offense I think can be very underrated at times.

The other big part of last night's pitching performance was, Buehrle was pitching with a purpose. His grandfather had passed away earlier this week. Buehrle was moved up in the rotation in order to be able to get to Missouri for his grandfather's funeral. Buehrle however said "Once the game started, the emotions were kind of left behind, and I concentrated on what I was doing.” If you know anything about the Buehrle situation over the last few season's its been an up and down rollercoaster. From the rumor's that he wanted out and the idea of him going back to St.Louis where he grew up to pitch for the Cardinals. To me though, it seems like he is still the stopper, the ace, the go to guy in the clutch. Buehrle, now has gone 6-2 in his last nine starts with a 1.76 in that time frame. Not to mention in the last 66 1/3 inning's he has only allowed 13 earned runs. If that isn't “Ace” material then I don't know what is.

I have said earlier this season that although the Sox may not make it that big of deal, there have been a few times this season where Mark has been called on to “stop the bleeding,” case in point...last night. The Sox were on a three game losing streak and of course there were many already starting to panic. Buehrle was called upon to get the Sox back on track after the first series against the cubs and shut down the dodgers. The Sox went on a terror after that, winning 8 out of 9 games. Do I think that will happen again? Not sure, but if there is a time for them to do that, it is now!

The Sox, now enter a part of their schedule that is very important. After this Texas series they hit the road for maybe the 7 most important games of the season so far. They head to Detroit for a three game series then its off to Minnesota for four. Not to mention another four against Detroit and the Redsox's head into town in early August. The Sox really don't get a chance to breathe till the middle of August. That's when Kansas City heads into town, and even then, there are no gimmie's with the Royals, as we have seen this season.

If I'm Ozzie I know that its time to use those famous grinder rules that won them the World Series in 2005. I'd say lets start with grinder rule number 1...Win. Or die trying!

To hear more Whitesox talk or any other baseball topics don't forget you can tune into Bizzy on Sports on WJJG 1530 AM, Tuesday night's from 6-7 PM. Any questions or comments email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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