--1B Paul Konerko has had a setback in his recovery from the strained left oblique. On the day that he was supposed to be joining Class AAA Charlotte for the start of his rehabilitation program, he opted to stay back in Chicago on Sunday, not even willing to try and speculate when he will return from the 15-day disabled list. If Sunday was any indication, it could be another week.
"Definitely some soreness, a little bit during and then after I hit (Saturday), so the plan was to leave (Sunday), but the bottom line is there was a little too much soreness to get on a plane (Sunday) and get ready to go (Monday)," Konerko explained. "That's it. As far as a timeline, I don't know now. I think the worse thing to do is to make a timeline like I had (Saturday). Now, just wait and see and that's it." Konerko suffered the injury before a game on June 15, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list two days later. He was expected to come off on time if his first live batting practice on Saturday went well. It didn't. --RHP Javier Vazquez got the no-decision against the Cubs on Saturday, but while the outing left him at .500 (2-2) in his last five outings, he should be thanking his offense for bailing him out. The veteran has a 7.48 ERA in that time, with his ERA going from a 3.43 to a 4.49 since June 6. So when manager Ozzie Guillen went for a visit on the mound Saturday, he pulled no punches with his pitcher. "I told him, 'You keep getting behind these guys, it's suicide,'" Guillen said. "This is not an easy ballpark to pitch in, especially when you get behind." Vazquez finished his day with five earned runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. "I'm not being aggressive enough," Vazquez said. "The bottom line is I've got to get better. I'm just struggling, man. I wish I could pinpoint what it is, but I'm in a rough patch."
--2B Alexei Ramirez was not only back in the starting lineup after missing Friday's game for the birth of his son, but went 2-for-4 with a home run in the Saturday win. There is no longer a question who the starting second baseman will be, with GM Ken Williams looking to trade INF Juan Uribe if he can find a match.
--The Sox bullpen entered Sunday night first in the American League with a 2.64 ERA, leading to ESPN announcer Joe Morgan to call it "the best bullpen I've ever seen." That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but they did own a 1.66 ERA over their last 36 games. No wonder Guillen has a hard time picking All-Star candidates from that group. "I think Matt Thornton," Guillen said. "I think (Bobby Jenks is) throwing the ball well but there are a couple other closers doing a better job. But I think everybody in the bullpen is doing a tremendous job. It's going to be hard to pick."
--RF Jermaine Dye extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a second-inning single against the Cubs on Sunday night. "The key is not letting you guys talk me into thinking about it," Dye said. "You can't get too high and too low in this game, because it can bring you back to reality real quick."
BY THE NUMBERS: 6 -- The number of consecutive starts Mark Buehrle has made without a loss. His last defeat came back on May 27, at Cleveland.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think there is a bottom line -- the Twins won 10 straight and we're still in first place. So we weren't doing so bad ourselves. The Twins won 10 in-a-row and we still have a lot of games left with them. It's going to be a dogfight and we knew that from the beginning. We have to stay focused and take care of ourselves." -- Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, on the state of the American League Central Division race.
