Morning Wood - This One's For You, Braden David

White Sox 2 Toronto Blue Jays 0

Nothing like becoming a first-time dad to turbo charge your game. Two days after wife Jamie gave birth to son Braden, Mark Buehrle hurled a tour de force eight innings, scattering eight hits and strking out six. He got help from Bobby Jenks, who pitched a perfect ninth for his 30th save of the season. Meanwhile, Danny Richar, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, did his best to make folks forget Tadahito Iguchi, going 2 for 3, and Jerry Owens hit his first major league home run, giving the Sox a 2-0 lead they'd never relinquish. In what has to be my favorite quote of the season, Owens had this to say about his line drive over the right field fence: "To be honest with you, I tried to hit a hard ground ball. I happened to get under it. All the home runs that I've ever hit in my life have been on accident, and this one was on accident too." Jerry Owens is my new favorite player.

Chicago Cubs 8 Cincinnati 1

Derrek Lee should get suspended more often. His two-run, 403-foot shot in the first inning was his fourth home run and ninth RBI in eight games. Not to be outdone, Alfonso Soriano mashed a three-run, 422-foot HR in the second to give the Cubs a 5-0 lead, then added a two-run shot in the ninth for good measure. Thanks to St. Louis' sweep of Milwaukee in a doubleheader, the Cubs now trail the Brewers by just 1 1/2 games in the NL Central. You read it right. The Cubs are 1 1/2 games out of first. "We've got to keep grinding," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We can't get google-eyed over where we are." I'm with ya, Lou. If there's one thing I always say, it's don't get google-eyed.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Los Angeles 10 Detroit 3
• Minnesota 3 Cleveland 2
• Seattle 4 Oakland 3
• Kansas 6 Texas 5
• Baltimore 7 New York 5
• Boston 12 Tampa 6

NL

• New York 3 Washington 1, Washington 6 New York 5
• Philadelphia 10 Pittsburgh 5
• St. Louis 5 Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 7 Milwaukee 6
• San Francisco 4 Florida 3
• Houston 3 San Diego 1
• Arizona 4 Atlanta 3
• Colorado 6 Los Angeles 2