--RF Jermaine Dye took exception to White Sox fans saying the team was quitting. "When you're a fan and your team goes through a rough patch, you try and figure out what's going on," Dye said. "But to think your players quit, c'mon, we have a lot of pride day in and day out. When we're playing well, everyone is happy, when you're not, whether you're a player, coach or whatever, outsiders will try and find ways to pick apart a team. You block it out."
As for the double standard with the team across town that hasn't won a championship in a century, Dye said that goes with the territory. "The city is basically a Cubs town, that's no secret," Dye said. "We won a World Series a few years ago, and we're still treated like the outsiders in the city. But we have our fans, and our fans are great. They've stuck with us." --Pitching coach Don Cooper had been keeping his rotation quiet, but he said Thursday that manager Ozzie Guillen and he have agreed on one possible scenario. "Right now we've got it lined up to where if we choose to we can pitch Javy (Vazquez) on Saturday, and if we choose to we can pitch (Mark) Buehrle on Sunday, depending on how important those games will be, and obviously they look like they will be," Cooper said. "It's leaning that way now, but it could change."
--C A.J. Pierzynski batted eighth against the Twins on Wednesday and Thursday, instead of his usual No. 2 spot. Manager Ozzie Guillen was trying to take some pressure off his starting catcher. Pierzynski was 4-for-26 on the Sox's 10-game road trip, but he went a combined 2-for-7 in the two games sat No. 8. "A.J. is struggling right now," Guillen said. "Hopefully, he starts swinging the bat better and we can move him back where he was."
--OF Ken Griffey Jr. earned more playing time, according to manager Ozzie Guillen, especially considering the veteran had accounted for all five runs through the first two losses against the Twins. "He's a great kid and he's done a lot of great stuff for us," Guillen said. "He's swinging the bat better and giving me good at-bats. Like I said when we got him, if people think Junior is going to carry this ballclub, they are wrong. He came here to play his game, and hopefully he continues to swing the bat better."
--LHP John Danks gets the start Friday against Cleveland, and manager Ozzie Guillen said that with the way RHP Javier Vazquez fell on his face Tuesday against the Twins, don't be surprised if Danks starts a game in the first round of the playoffs -- if the Sox get there. Last week, Danks was going to be the odd man out.
BY THE NUMBERS: 40-23 -- The Sox's record against the American League Central Division this season, through Sept. 19, 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.
