Rios hopes he's not done for season

Alex Rios' first impression when he fouled a pitch the side of his left knee Monday night?

"It hurt like a - ," the White Sox' center fielder said a day later.

Rios was in some serious pain after the mishap in the eighth inning, and he wasn't in the starting lineup in Tuesday night's 5-4 victory over the Red Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

But Rios did say the knee was feeling much better, and he should be able to play if needed before the season ends Sunday.

"If it doesn't get worse, and it shouldn't, yeah," Rios said. "It's better. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I didn't think I was going to be able to walk this morning. After I got out of bed and I put my foot on the ground, there was no problem."

With a .284 batting average, 21 home runs, 88 RBI and 34 stolen bases, Rios has had a solid season for the White Sox. But the 29-year-old outfielder did slip in September, batting just .228.

"Sometimes you get tired a little bit and you get into bad habits that get harder to get rid of," Rios said. "I have to be better at getting rid of the bad stretches, or minimize the time it takes me to get out of them."

Wilting Flowers? The White Sox' supposed catcher of the future, Tyler Flowers has made just one start since coming up from Class AAA Charlotte on Sept. 1.

Flowers had decent power numbers at Charlotte this season (16 home runs, 53 RBI in 100 games), but he batted just .220. One scout who saw Flowers in the minor leagues this year discussed his swing Tuesday.

"Everything was this way (point to right field)," the scout said, indicating a late swing. And he was always cheating on first-pitch fastballs. You try to do that up here (majors), you're in huge trouble."

Manager Ozzie Guillen said Flowers is likely to play this weekend against the Cleveland Indians.

"It's not fair for Flowers to face (Boston starters John) Lackey, (Josh) Beckett and (Jon) Lester," Guillen said. "I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not taking anything away from Cleveland pitchers, but when you are facing guys like that, it's not fair for those guys."

Coming through: Dayan Viciedo's pinch-hit single with two outs in the ninth inning scored Juan Pierre with the winning run Tuesday night.

The White Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit.

"Viciedo, you try to put him in the right spot," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Every time he's out there, he fights. It was a good win. I think those guys, I'm very lucky to have guys like that. Those guys are going to keep fighting until the end."

Sight seen: Andruw Jones received a round of applause from his teammates (and a fine) for reporting two minutes late for pregame stretch.