Freddy Garcia and the White Sox have seen their AL Central lead dwindle to 3 1/2 games. AP
	MAILBAG Tom Verducci will answer select questions from SI.com users in his Baseball Mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Wow, did you think when you wrote the playoff contenders piece in the magazine (Sept. 5) that the White Sox would be battling for their lives in mid-September? Not even us Indians fans thought the Tribe had a shot at the division title. Amazing what can happen in a few weeks. What are your thoughts now with the race so tight and four games remaining between the Tribe and the Sox?
-- Greg Elleman, Marysville, Ohio

It is indeed amazing. You've probably seen the note that no team ever had a 15-game lead cut down to 2 1/2. But a lead is still a lead and Joe Crede hit a huge home run Tuesday night to give the Sox some needed oxygen. They're 23-24 in their past 47 games, which means they haven't been awful. Give credit to the Indians for playing great baseball. It's still a steep climb for Cleveland, like a basketball team that works hard to cut a 25-point deficit down to three. The last few steps are the steepest and hardest. I do, however, still like the Indians for the wild card.

Now that the Red Sox are struggling, mostly because of their pitching, should they give more credit to Pedro Martinez for last year's success?
-- Meddie Katongole, Albany, N.Y.

I don't know what you mean by "more credit." The guy was fantastic for the Sox and every one of his starts was celebrated as a local holiday in Boston. If you mean that they should have committed the dollars and years to Pedro that the Mets did, I can't say they should have. Martinez was worth more to the Mets because they lacked a true No. 1 and were on a quest for respectability.

Am I the only person in the world who thinks the Cy Young award should be given to the pitcher with the best ERA? What could possibly be a better measure of a pitcher's performance than the number of earned runs he allows per nine innings? Wins are so overrated for pitchers. How can Roger Clemens affect how many runs his team scores when he pitches? We could avoid all the arguments every year and just award the Cy Young to the pitcher with the best ERA. If a pitcher won 32 games, but had an ERA of 5.00, would you vote for him for the Cy Young?
-- Chris Navazio, West Chester, Pa.

I understand your point, but I would no more vote for a guy only because he had the best ERA than I would only for the guy with the most wins. Was Jake Peavy the Cy Young winner last year? I think you have to look at as much as you can: ERA, wins, run support, innings, baserunners, strikeouts, walks, etc. I'm a big believer in innings because the way the game is played today, a starter who can get the ball directly to the closer ,or who can finish the job himself, is more valuable than ever.