Guys And Dolls: Floyd, White Sox Back On Top

The inflatable sex doll community was shocked on Tuesday night when Chicago's Gavin Floyd once again lost a no-hitter in the late going; giving up a double to the Twins' Joe Mauer with one out in the ninth. (Inset: "Nooooo!"). Bobby Jenks came on to get the final two outs in the White Sox's 7-1 victory, which ended their six-game losing streak.

We told you on Tuesday about the White Sox sex doll shrine, constructed by Chicago players to help the team bust out of its slump. But while this type of thing makes good sense for river rafting, it makes very little for baseball, and on Tuesday White Sox front office types ordered manager Ozzie Guillen to remove it. And then, suddenly, magic. Floyd, who held Detroit hitless for 7 1/3 innings on April 12, came even closer to the no-hitter this time; walking three and striking out four, throwing 105 pitches. The Twins scored an unearned run in the fourth. Jermaine Dye had a leadoff homer in the sixth, and Carlos Quentin had a two-run single in the seventh. And once again the Phillies are left wondering if they should have brought in a couple of plastic blowup women while Floyd played for them.

• Erin Andrews Curse Lives On. Nothing sadder than this photo, my friends. Poor Joba. I speculated a while back about the Erin Andrews Curse; an hypothesis which was derided here and roundly criticized by the scientific community. But despite what Andrews later said about the interview with Chamberlain, I know Joba said something inappropriate there on camera. And the fact remains that in the short time since that interview, he has suffered the only two losses of his career, with his ERA ballooning to 3.38. David Dellucci's pinch-homer in the eighth against Chamberlain — a three-run shot — gave the Indians a 5-3 win over the Yankees on Tuesday.

• Dodgers Cannot Be Stopped. Inside-the-park home run. Wheeee! Blake DeWitt's second career homer was a pinball job, a fifth-inning drive that New York right fielder Ryan Church just missed at the top of the right field fence. The homer was the winning run in the Dodgers' 5-4 victory; their ninth win in 10 games.

• Um, Fire Millen? That's all the Tigers needed at this point; freaking knuckleballs. Tim Wakefield threw an eight-inning, two-hit shutout as the Red Sox beat Detroit 5-0. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez had back-to-back homers on successive pitches, as the Stockings won their fifth straight. Detroit has lost five straight.