--3B Joe Crede rejoined the team in Kansas City before Sunday's game with the Royals, but he refused to meet with the media and discuss his visit to Dallas to get a second opinion on his ailing back problems. Manager Ozzie Guillen, however, was given the information and said it all. "I don't think Joe will be back this year," Guillen said. "He could be back but not be playing. That's my opinion. It's going to be hard for him to come back and do it. He said the doctor found out what happened. From what he told me, we can't count on him this season." According to a team spokesman, the inflammation that had been hampering Crede since late July is still in the back. The prognosis was for Crede to continue his rehabilitation program. Basically, it was no real change for the All-Star. That means Juan Uribe will be the starting third baseman for the remainder of the season.
--Manager Ozzie Guillen admitted that starting his staff on short rest the last week was a gamble, but C A.J. Pierzynski said he didn't see a difference in performance with the hurlers. "(Mark) Buehrle pitched fine, got the win," Pierzynski said. "Gavin (Floyd), he made a couple mistakes, but we didn't score any runs for him. The bottom line is Gavin pitched fine. There were no worries about how he pitched. If I hadn't known, I couldn't even tell that he was working on short rest." Monday's off day allows the rotation to get normal rest for the Twins series. After that, Guillen will decide. But the plan remains to stay away from using the No. 5 starter unless the Sox clinch. --OF Ken Griffey Jr. was not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Royals, as manager Ozzie Guillen continued the shuffling of his four outfielders. But the one constant has been OF Dewayne Wise, who once again was in the No. 2 hole, and scored the first run of the game for the Sox. "I don't sign players, but I'm a good scout," Guillen said of Wise. "When I see this kid come up -- and this kid gave me something I like, the game I like to play. And we don't have that many guys here like that. I like the way he plays. He brings a lot of different things to the ballclub. He's a pretty good ballplayer. It surprised me that he was in the minor leagues and nobody gave him a chance to perform. But he cured me (of) a lot of problems."
--1B Paul Konerko and his teammates couldn't exactly ignore the fact that the city was once again a Cubs town after the North Siders clinched a playoff spot on Saturday. But while Chicago has to now wait and see if a cross-town World Series can still happen, the Sox players were thinking about it. "It isn't something we talk about all the time, but yeah, guys were talking about how cool that would be if we both got in," Konerko said Sunday. "Think about it -- it's seven wins and that's all it would take (for a cross-town World Series). Yeah, it's seven hard wins, but it's possible as long as both teams reach the postseason."
--C Toby Hall was given the starting nod Sunday, but manager Ozzie Guillen said with an off day Monday, he will lean on A.J. Pierzynski in the Twins series, starting him in all three games. Considering no one on the Sox knows the Metrodome better than Pierzynski -- who played there for six seasons -- it's a wise decision.
BY THE NUMBERS: 40-23 -- The Sox' record against the American League Central Division this season, which is a big reason they have been atop the division most of the year.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I tell them no matter what we do for 150 games, people aren't going to remember that. People are going to remember what you do from today to the last day of the season. Then they're going to say they had a bad year or a good year or a great year. That's all they'll remember." -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's message to his team with the season winding down.
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