Chicago ? My, that was fast.

Hard to believe it was only last Wednesday night that the Cubs were four innings away from a tie for first place. And the White Sox?

Who knew where they were? Who cared?

(Note to angry White Sox fans: I write this only for effect. I’m kidding … sort of.)

But when the Cubs staggered out of U.S. Cellular Field early Sunday evening, they were five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals, with upcoming series against Houston, which just added Carlos Beltran, and the White Sox, who have now beaten them in four consecutive series.

Holy sinking hopes, Bartman.

On the other hand, the White Sox enjoyed Monday’s day off like few in recent memory. They have improved themselves in the standings, climbing within one game of first-place Minnesota, and in the starting rotation. The Freddy Garcia deal announced after Sunday’s 9-4 victory gives the Sox a third starting pitcher who matches up with Twins ace Brad Radke.

That’s quite the edge.

No doubt, this is turning into a Sox town.

It was quite a weekend for chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who was in such high spirits Sunday that he gave a sports writer a ride home from the park. The fact that it was the legendary Jerome Holtzman should give Reinsdorf some good karma to carry into the upcoming series at Minnesota.

About the seventh inning Sunday, Reinsdorf gave his blessing to a bold move by general manager Ken Williams, who borrowed from the future to improve the immediate outlook.

The White Sox’s focus is squarely on creating the same kind of buzz this October that the Cubs did a year ago.

Imagine the joy on the South Side if the Sox do somehow steal the Cubs’ thunder. That seemed highly unlikely at the start of spring training, when Dusty Baker’s pitchers were healthy and the St. Louis Cardinals seemed an afterthought. It still seemed fairly unlikely as recently as last Wednesday.

And instead of adding players on Sunday, the Cubs lost one. Mike Remlinger went on the disabled list for the second time, the seventh DL move they’ve made with pitchers off their projected staff.

Baker and his players will put the best spin on it, vowing to get their mojo back in the upcoming series against Houston and the Sox

The Cubs’ job at the moment is to get to the All-Star break within five games of first place. If they can’t do that, Chicago baseball fans will have only two hopes: another run of greatness from Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and the team on the South Side.

Who knows what Williams will have done by then?

Williams hardly distanced himself from a possible Magglio Ordonez deal Sunday. It appears the Braves’ Andruw Jones is a definite possibility.

The White Sox have moved into the spotlight. The tougher part will be to stay there.