Twins go to Chicago tied for first

Sometimes, as the saying goes, it's not who you play but when you play 'em.

The White Sox had to play the Baltimore Orioles in the O's first week under new manager Buck Showalter. For whatever reason, Buck's Birds are 6-1 — 3-1 against Chicago — and the upshot of that is that the White Sox have fallen into a tie with the Twins going into this three-game series in Chicago.

It's mid-August, and the Twins and Chisox have more head-to-head series after this one.

But it's worth knowing: The Twins have just one season-closing series left with an East Division team (Toronto). The White Sox have three games later this month with Baltimore (who may well have regressed by then), three with the Yankees, and seven in September with the Boston Red Sox.

Twins fans should hope that the Red Sox are still contending then and not just playing out the string.