Cabrera's assessment: 'We really stink'

In his first season with the White Sox, Orlando Cabrera has been a man of very few words so far.

Before Thursday afternoon's 6-2 win over the Twins at U.S. Cellular Field, Cabrera did speak out about a Sox team that has been sliding since running off five straight wins in early April.

"We stink,'' Cabrera said. "We're (bleeping) right now. We really stink."

Cabrera's state of the White Sox was brutally blunt, but the 33-year-old shortstop isn't about to concede anything at this early stage of the season.

"We have a (heck) of a ballteam," Cabrera said. "We have a chance to win this division. It's anybody's division right now. Anybody that gets hot can get a really, really big lead.''

The White Sox led the AL Central from April 5-May 2, and they are still only 1 game behind Minnesota despite losing 10 of their last 15 games.

"I don't know how many games we have to win or lose to win the division," Cabrera said. "We just need to learn how to win ballgames when we're not scoring a lot of runs. Just put a couple of wins together and we'll be OK."

Like most Sox hitters, Cabrera is mired in a slump. Even though he has replaced Nick Swisher in the leadoff spot, Cabrera (.209) is 1-for-11 since moving to the top of the lineup. The right-hander has just 7 hits in his last 53 at-bats.

Alexei Ramirez played shortstop against the Twins on Thursday, giving Cabrera a much-needed day off.

"He's been playing a lot and I promised him I was going to give him a day off on the (last) road trip," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "I couldn't do it because of Joe Crede's situation (migraine) and (Paul) Konerko's situation (sore right hand)."