Why The Sox Are In 1st Place…

Team Stats:
-Sox were only 1 game better than the Royals on June 9th (when this streak began). Sox were 9.5 back while KC was 10.5.

-In the last 30 games, the Sox are hitting .341 w/ Runners In Scoring Position (RISP)

-On the homestand, where the Sox swept LAA and KC, Sox as a team hit .323 and outscored LAA and KC 47-13.

-In the series vs KC, the Sox hit .393.

-Sox starters (eliminating Daniel Hudson's performance on Sunday): 19-5, 2.23 ERA. More impressive even that that: 27 Quality Starts in 30 games. During this stretch the starters total ERA dropped from 5.28-4.23. The 2.23 ERA is the lowest in a 30 game stretch since 1972.

-Sox Bullpen in the last 26 games: 2.35 ERA, 56 strikeouts

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Individual Stats

-Carlos Quentin hitting .367 w/ 11HR, 24 rbi in last 16 games.

-Alex Rios in his last 65 games, is hitting .319 with 13HR and 24RBI. He also has 20SB (which has him 8th in the A.L.). He also is in the top 25 in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player).

-Paul Konerko in his last 36 gmes is hitting .358 with 6HR and 31 RBI. He's 6th in the AL in OPS (On Base Pluse Slugging pct) w/ a .942 mark. He's 3rd in the AL in At Bat:HR ratio. Konerko hits a homer almost every 15 At Bats.

-Since June 8th, Gavin Floyd has a 1.25 ERA with a 41:13 Strikeout:Walk ratio. His WHIP (Walks, Hits per Inning Pitched) is .91. To put that into perspective, an average WHIP would be around 1.35...just to give you an idea of how good he's been.

-Tony Pena has been brilliant in long relief lately. In his last 2 outings, Pena has gong 7 1/3ip gving up only 1 ER.

-J.J. Putz has recorded 23 consecutive scoreless innings. Matt Thornton has a stretch of 10 2/3 scoreless.