What do Sox think of Floyd?

DETROIT -- Gavin Floyd has proven he can pitch against the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Now the White Sox' right-hander has to carry the success over into other venues if he hopes to win a job in the 2008 starting rotation.

"The jury is still out,'' general manager Kenny Williams said before the Sox lost to Detroit, 2-1 in 11 innings Wednesday night. "The one thing you can get excited about is when you see it, it's something special.

"But too many times we've seen the alter ego as well. It's part of being young, inexperienced and not having your major-league shoes on just yet, possibly. Or, this could be part of a career trend. It's up to him.''

With the Sox on the verge of being "officially'' eliminated from the playoffs, Floyd is getting a chance to show what he can do.

Like Williams, manager Ozzie Guillen knows the potential is there.

"I've seen him look great a few times and then you can see him real bad,'' Guillen said. "There's nothing in between. When you see him, you say, 'It's there, he has it.' Then all of a sudden, 'I don't know if we can give him another shot.'

"I wish he was a little more consistent.''

Floyd pitched 6 innings against Detroit, allowing a solo home run to Mike Hessman leading off the fifth inning. In an Aug. 5 start at Comerica Park, Floyd threw 6 shutout innings.

"He threw good,'' Guillen said of Floyd on Wednesday. "The only enemy he has is him. He's not consistent day in and day out, but hopefully he'll come along with that and be a big-league pitcher."

The slumping Tigers rallied in the 11th inning off White Sox relief pitcher Heath Phillips.

Called up Tuesday from Class AAA Charlotte, where he was a starter, Phillips got two quick outs in the 11th before Brandon Inge doubled. After Carlos Guillen was intentionally walked, Timo Perez delivered the game-winning single.

"It was weird coming out of that bullpen,'' Phillips said. "But I have to adapt to it. That's why they brought me up here.''

The Sox managed just 4 hits in the marathon game, including a solo home run by Danny Richar.

"You're not going to win many games with 4 hits,'' Guillen said.

• The White Sox have three September call-ups: Class AAA Charlotte pitchers Phillips and Lance Broadway and catcher Donny Lucy.

But after Charlotte ended the season with a 63-80 record in the International League, GM Kenny Williams would have preferred adding zero players from the Knights.

"I'm not happy with our performance here, not happy with the performances down in Charlotte, the individual performances, nor the team performances,'' Williams said.

"A lot of times in the minors people forget, they think it's just based on how they do as individuals. Well, we look at things a little differently. We look at the team aspect as well, and I'm a little disappointed in a lot of the individual and team efforts down there.''

• Lucy played in his first major-league game Wednesday. He got his first hit in the fifth inning, a two-out single off Tigers starter Kenny Rogers.

• After coming out of Tuesday's game with a sore left groin, right fielder Jermaine Dye didn't play. Dye is likely to miss a few more days.

• Catcher A.J. Pierzynski rejoined the White Sox. Pierzynski missed Tuesday's game due to the death of his wife's grandmother.

Tigers 2, White Sox 1 (11)

On the mound: Starter Gavin Floyd pitched 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 6 hits. Making his major-league debut, Heath Phillips took the loss, allowing 1 run on 2 hits.

At the plate: Danny Richar had 2 of the Sox' 4 hits, including a solo home run. The first three hitters -- Jerry Owens, Josh Fields and Jim Thome -- were a combined 0-for-13.

-- Scot Gregor