Guillen happy with way Sox battled to victory

They got wet along the way, but the White Sox kept pace with the Tigers and Indians in the AL Central on Saturday.

Before the Sox beat the Royals 5-4 at U.S. Cellular Field, there was a 1-hour, 25-minute rain delay.

There as a 42-minute delay in the eighth inning and it was raining again in the ninth when Chris Sale retired Kansas City in order to pick up his fourth save.

Manager Ozzie Guillen had a hard time recalling much of what transpired due to the length of the game, but he was pleased the White Sox didn’t lose any more ground after rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the fifth inning.

“We never gave up,” Guillen said. “We made a lot of pretty good defensive plays to help us win and we walked to win the game. That’s not White Sox baseball, but it’s something we needed.”

With the score tied at 4-4 in the seventh inning, Alejandro De Aza drew a walk off Royals reliever Aaron Crow to force home Omar Vizquel with the deciding run.

Dunn excused:

There were some further developments of interest on the Adam Dunn front Saturday.

The left-handed hitting Dunn was not in the starting lineup against Royals right-handed starter Luke Hochevar, but there was a clear-cut reason for the latest absence.

Dunn has been excused from the club and he’s not expected to rejoin the White Sox until Tuesday’s game against the Indians.

“Dunn has some family issues,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He should be back ... I told him he’s not playing (Sunday) either ... but he should be back Tuesday.”

With Paul Konerko still limited to the designated hitter role due to a sore left leg, Brent Lillibridge made his fourth start at first base.

Alejandro De Aza has also been taking groundballs at first base during practice.

In yet another sign the Sox are preparing to forge ahead without Dunn, Dayan Viciedo was scheduled to play his first game of the season at first base Saturday night before Class AAA Charlotte’s game against Norfolk was rained out.

Pierzynski sits:

A.J. Pierzynski sat out Saturday’s game with a sore left wrist, and he’s also expected to miss Sunday’s game.

Kansas City starter Bruce Chen hit Pierzynski with a pitch Friday.

Tyler Flowers made his fourth start at catcher and hit his first major-league home run, a solo shot off Luke Hochevar in the fifth inning.

Konerko feeling better:

Paul Konerko hasn’t played first base since being by a pitch on the side of the left knee on July 31. He played his 10th straight game at DH Saturday and staked the Sox to an early lead with a 2-run homer in the third inning.

But the White Sox’ captain said he’d like to return to first base when the Indians open a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday.

“If you can play on it, for my situation I can hit on it, not really run on it or do anything else, but for this point in the season and what I can offer, I can get in there and get my four at-bats or five at-bats to try to help the team,” Konerko said. “For me, it’s not like when I’m 100 percent healthy I’m really out there running around much anyway.”