[makeup games]. I don't know how that's going to affect them. But the American League Central should be fun because there's a lot of good talent. Every day's a battle. There's no place to relax in this league."

The Sox gained momentum in winning two of three in Oakland, where they had won only four times in their previous 27 games dating to 2001. The recent offensive revival and a pitching turnaround gave the Sox a better view of their potential.

"Maybe there's something to the teams still feeling themselves out, not knowing who they are yet," first baseman Paul Konerko said.Ad

Genealogy Blog

DNA Tracks Descendants Of Alaska Mariner Who Lived 10,000 Years Ago

An ancient mariner who lived and died 10,000 years ago on an island west of Ketchikan probably doesn't have any close relatives left in Alaska.

But some of them migrated south and their descendants can be found today in coastal Native American populations in California, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.

That's some of what scientists learned this summer by examining the DNA of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians in Southeast Alaska.

Working with elders at a cultural festival in Juneau, they interviewed more than 200 Native Alaskans who allowed them to swab tiny amounts of saliva from their cheeks to capture their mitochondrial DNA, the genetic material that's passed from mothers to children.

Bones of the ancient Alaskan were first discovered