Mike Mussina was denied his 200th career victory yesterday because the White Sox scored eight runs off of him in the sixth inning. Esteban Loaiza picked up his 20th win of the season as the White Sox rolled over the Bombers, 9-4. Bernie Williams hit a homer and so did Jason Giambi.

I think that Bernie will catch fire next week against the Twins. And I’m mostly saying that because he’s had a terrible season and he’s my favorite Yankee.

Jack Curry has an article in The Times today about why Jose Contreras should be considered as a viable option for a start in the post season:

When Torre was asked about putting Contreras in the rotation, he said, “I don’t know how that would happen,” but, of course, he knows. Torre could gamble a little, use Contreras instead of the sagging Wells and explain it by saying that Contreras has been more reliable.

“You might see that,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “You never know. Anything can happen. I think you could see him in Game 4. But I think they’ll want him in the bullpen because Skip wants to use him more than once.”

Still, when Posada was asked if Contreras would be in the top four if the Yankees ignored reputations and chose the pitchers who are performing the best, he said: “Absolutely. He would be one of them.”

Meanwhile, Christian Ruzich and Will Carroll must have been happy after the Cubs shut out the Reds last night to remain a game ahead of the Astros. I did manage to catch the Barry Bonds at bat vs. Billy Wagner replayed on ESPN last night. Bonds was pinch-hitting in a one-run game and Wagner was throwing nothing but cheese. He whiffed the best hitter on earth with his 100 mph fastball, and somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale, Pat Jordan was smiling.