I'm going to be a bit cautious on my praise of Pink Gavin Floyd simply because it's only one game and the 2008 Tigers look like the 2007 White Sox right now.  But that said, the kid did a pretty good job yesterday as the Sox won their third straight and their second straight against Detroit.

Thus far, the biggest difference between the debacle last year and this year (after five whole games) is that the offense seems to be able to pick up the pitching.  Last year, if the Sox went down 3-0, they stayed down, but this year, it seems like they have the confidence to come back.  Again, as we pointed out yesterday, when you win games like this early in the season, it does build your confidence for games later in the year.  Please refer to your notes from the 2005 season.

One thing that did bother me about Floyd's performance was his inability to put the side away with two outs. In the fourth, after Carlos Quentin's spectacular throw from left field doubled up Edgar Renteria,  Floyd gave up a two out single to Jacque Jones and a double to Brandon Inge.  In the sixth, after a double play cleared the bases, Floyd walked Jones and gave up a two run bomb to Inge.  I'm sure Don Cooper will be communicating our sentiments to young Floyd a little later today.  The bottom line is, if the defense is doing their job turning double plays, a pitcher has to step on the opponent's throat, not let them up off the mat.

A couple of other observations:

• Nick Swisher looks a lot better in center than I thought.  He's probably better out there than anyone thought, including Jerry Owens.  And with three straight wins, Ozzie will ride this Quentin, Swisher, Dye combination into the ground which is bad news for Owens and worse news for Brian Anderson.
• Is it me, or does so far it looks like the Angels have pantsed Kenny Williams on the Cabrera for Garland trade?
• Ozzie had the conviction/confidence to sit down his hottest hitter.  Since Dontrell Willis is so tough on lefties, Ozzie sat A.J. and played Toby Hall, who went 0 for four.  I would have liked to see the Sox win the first two games of the series and then rest A.J. in the last game, but Ozzie's move yesterday shows you at this point, he's a confident manager.  Again, this bodes well for the future.
• How many straight days can Linebrink and Jenks pitch?  It's now three each.  Ozzie did rest Dotel yesterday, so chances are we'll see him in the 8th tonight along with Matt Thornton.