After questioning the grit of my Chicago White Sox for most of this season, Im happy to see they passed an important gut-check this afternoon by completing a three game sweep of the top team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers.

This is the second time the Sox have swept the Tigers, an accomplishment no other team can claim to have done once, this year.

In fact, arguably, the Sox play their best ball under pressure. Theyve won 75% of their contests with Detroit so far in 2006, going 9 for 12.

This is comforting, but also distressing. At least one Sox pitcher recently admitted that he phones it in against lesser teams and only tries his hardest against top-ranked foes.

I think he isnt alone in this very bad habit.

There are a bunch of others on the roster who have done the same thing, losing games to inferior squads who have no chance of making it to the postseason.

Sox fans can only hope that the surging South Siders have turned an important page with todays sweep.

Its great to win the big ones, but true champs play like top dogs every day.

In the next month, thats going to be the trick to permanently de-clawing the tenacious Tigers.