But if Cabrera refuses to let it just go away at this point, well, it is evident he will not win this battle.

"I'm not going to go back and forth with my players," Guillen said. "Everyone has the right to say what he wants."

Guillen was informed on Tuesday that Cabrera was alleging to a reporter that the manager wasn't protecting him, and he actually had a chance to read the quotes Wednesday morning. It was a claim that Guillen still didn't understand.

"I don't think I'm his favorite manager," Guillen said laughing. "But you know what? He's my favorite shortstop right now.

"I hope I can protect him better. I don't know how. Like I say, my door is open. If something bothers you, feel free to talk to me about it. I'm not going to make a big issue about it. As long as he's here, he's going to play. It's like I say, it's not about feelings. It's about winning. The only thing I care about him is make sure he plays the game and respects his teammates. That's all you can ask. Everything else will take care of itself. If he wants to call back, I'll give him my cellular phone to call back."

Cabrera is a free agent after this season, and it's now very clear that this will be his only season with the Sox. The question is, will he even last the entire season?

In the only newspaper Cabrera was speaking to Tuesday, he went on to say that all major league players are selfish.

"When he says every player is selfish, maybe he used the wrong word about selfish," Guillen said. "Everyone has to take care of themselves before they take care of the team. That's the way he should have put it. Because saying every player is selfish, I played the game. I played longer than he did. And I played with more different teammates than he did.

"I think selfish sounds like he isn't a team player. But in baseball, I say we win as a team and lose as a team."

The entire incident started in a Sun-Times story on Sunday, where it was pointed out that Cabrera had called up to the press box during games twice this season to dispute errors against him. Guillen then told the newspaper on Monday that Cabrera needed to watch what he did because of how it would look for his teammates.

"This is not Anaheim," Guillen added. "I know he played in Boston. But the fans here and the media here get into stuff like this. And I don't want him to cut off and keep prolonging it because he's not going to win."

WHITE SOX 6, INDIANS 5: With Gavin Floyd (5-3) in trouble early with two runs allowed in the first inning, the Wednesday afternoon affair looked very reminiscent of the early thumping Mark Buehrle took in Tuesday's loss. But Floyd hung in there, stating, "I just tried to keep that (good) attitude and wait for us to come back."

The wait wasn't very long.

Jermaine Dye hit a solo home run in the fourth, cutting the lead in half, and A.J. Pierzynski and Carlos Quentin gave the Sox the lead in the fifth with RBIs. A three-run sixth put Cleveland back in front, but the Sox were like that pesky mosquito that just wouldn't go away. That was evident in the seventh, when Pierzynski had an RBI double and Quentin picked up a huge two-run double that proved to be the difference.