There is this really lame KFC commercial where these people are sitting around eating these new hot wings and keep saying "I didn't see that coming."  Those same people and most baseball experts are saying the same thing about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Here we are on August 22 and the Rays still lead the AL East by 4½ games over Boston.  Anyone who tells you they know this was coming was either on crack at the time of their prediction or is a liar.  NO ONE saw this coming. 

So, when you looked at the White Sox schedule in April, you thought that the previously concluded series against Seattle would be against a contending team and this upcoming series against Tampa Bay would be a free spot on the bingo board.  How wrong we all were!

This is a big series for the Good Guys.  Although the Sox are in the thick of the Central hunt (although the Twinkies will not go away quietly, even winning on the road against the Angels last night) the Central and the Sox are not highly regarded nationally.  Most pundits think that even if the Sox to hold on and win the division, they will be cannon fodder in the playoffs.  This latest stretch against Oakland and Seattle, as impressive as it has been, has come against two pretty bad teams.  In fact, the Sox haven't seen a team with a winning record since the first of August when they played Boston to a four game standoff.  The experts just assume that the Rays will bring the Sox back to earth this weekend.

The Sox will also face two of their top tormentors this weekend in Scott Kazmir (3-1, 3.08 ERA in four starts vs. Sox) and Andy Sonnanstine (1-0, 2.14 ERA in three starts vs. Sox).  The Saturday game is the headline game on FOX and will be seen in most of the country (except in Milwaukee where we get the Cardinals and Braves. Whoo Hoo!  Three hours of hearing why Tony The Useless is an alleged genius.  But I digress.)

The Sox could make a huge statement this weekend by showing those around the country that this team is every bit a contender as the east coast teams embraced by the four letter sports network.  There is no doubt that if the starting pitching continues to come through and the offense continues to hit, there are few teams that can keep up with this one right now. 

Ozzie Guillen is like a jockey hitting his horse furiously with the whip to bring it down the stretch toward the finish.  He's neck and neck with the Twinkies, but he's still a couple of lengths behind the Rays and Angels.  Couple that with the fact the Sox hit the road for tough games in Baltimore (including a resumption of a suspended game Monday) Boston and Cleveland and taking advantage of home cooking is critical for the Sox right now. 

Beating the Rays with national eyes watching will go a long way to help .