Manager Ozzie Guillen, however, had plenty to say about it.

"The expectation for us is the same," Guillen said of the pending week. "Since spring training, I expect to be in first place. I expect to win. Even when people don't think we are going to be in this position.

"The guys who were here in 2005 and they are here now, they should be more proud right now than in 2005. We never (fought) this much in 2005. We went through a lot of difficulty now and I think they've earned it. They (deserve) to be in first place and I hope they know that. Hopefully, they go out there and at least get to the playoffs. It's been a tough summer. The only thing that can complete that is to win. If we don't, it will be a tough summer with a bad ending."

Unless the Sox break their trend of melting down in the Metrodome this season, a bad ending could be in the forecast.

While the Sox lead the division by 2-1/2 games, holding the magic number at five, the also lead the season series with Minnesota 8-7. In the Metrodome, however, they're just 1-5. They have lost six of their last seven games in the painted green cement of the dome and are 3-9 over their last 12 there.

The one player that has shown up to try and single-handedly beat Minnesota all season long? Of course, it's the guy that played six seasons for them -- Pierzynski. The catcher is hitting .404 against his former mates in '08.

That's why Pierzynski was reminding his current teammates that they have to have attitude going into the series.

"I think some guys get caught up in, 'Oh my God, it's the Metrodome,' instead of going in there with the mindset of, 'We're going to go in there and kick their (butt),'" Pierzynski told the Sun-Times on Sunday.