Guillen defends his team

The White Sox lost their fourth straight game Tuesday night, and they are out of first place in the AL Central for the first time since July 10.

Judging by all of the empty green seats in the upper deck for Tuesday night's game against the rival Twins at U.S. Cellular Field, maybe fans just don't believe the Sox can finish off an improbable turnaround that started two months ago.

Sensing some shifting support after the White Sox lost three straight to the moribund Orioles before returning home and falling to Minnesota, manager Ozzie Guillen stood up for his players.

"Just give those guys a little credit for making the season where it is right now," Guillen said. "When are they going to give our players the credit to be where we are right now? When we beat the National League, we were a horse(bleep) team. When we beat (the Los Angeles Angels), they were going down. Now, Baltimore beat the (bleep) out of us, and nobody says anything.

"We have to be where we're supposed to be, and we have to play where we play. But give those guys the credit. Just a little bit."

Since taking over as White Sox manager in 2004, Guillen has piled more credit on the Twins than any other team in baseball.

Instead of singing Minnesota's praises again, Guillen wondered why this week's showdown series is being viewed as such a big deal.

"Who gives a (bleep) who's in town?" Guillen said. "How about, 'The White Sox are back in Chicago after a long trip?' Even my wife told me Minnesota is coming to town. I said, 'Good, you dating somebody from there?' Who cares?"

The Sox took a beating in Tuesday's series opener, but they have their two best starters - John Danks and Gavin Floyd - going the next two games.

"It's that time of year where everybody starts to pay attention to scoreboards and standings, and it's good if you're a part of that," Paul Konerko said. "There are a lot of teams that have been out of it since June and May. We came close to that, but we got back in it and here we are. The mindset is just to go win the series.

"Regardless of what happens in this series, I don't think they're going to be handing out the trophy to either team at the end of the series no matter what happens. There's still going to be 47 games after this. We're trying to win them to cushion the fall if we lose. Like I said a month ago, there's going to be a million momentum changes as this thing goes on, and that's just the way it is."