Quentin's style can be painful

Carlos Quentin knows how to take a hit.

The White Sox' left fielder plants himself right next to home plate and literally dares opposing pitchers to throw inside.

It's a style that made Quentin the second-most hit batter (20) in the American League last season.

"I've been a hit a lot throughout my professional career, in the minor leagues and the major leagues," Quentin said. "I've dealt with it and I've had no problem with it, for the most part.

"Occasionally, there are some times where I don't pick up the ball until late and it catches me, and that's what happened last night."

In Thursday night's game against the Orioles, Quentin had to exit in the eighth inning after being hit on the left hand by a pitch from Orioles reliever Jim Johnson.

Quentin was questionable for Friday night's game against the Blue Jays at U.S. Cellular, but he was back in the lineup.

"Hand's fine," Quentin said. "I'm playing tonight so I guess that says I'm fine. If I wasn't fine, I wouldn't be playing. Definitely, when you get hit in the hand by a good fastball, you get nervous. But it responded well, so I'm in the lineup tonight."

Quentin had to convince manager Ozzie Guillen he was fine before getting the green light to play.

"I trust him, I trust what he says," Guillen said. "I'll go by what he told me and we'll see what happens. He wants to be on the field no matter what."

Staying put: In their last 5 combined starts, Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon have pitched 241/3 innings and allowed 24 earned runs on 33 hits.

The White Sox don't have replacements starters ready to step in, and Ozzie Guillen said it's too early to make changes.

"Jose's thrown the ball really good," Guillen said. "Last outing he was really, really bad. Colon has thrown the ball outstanding. Obviously (Thursday), his ball wasn't moving. They're my two guys until they tell me they can't go anymore."

Baseball weather: It was unseasonably warm (72) at the Cell on Friday night.

"At least we want to be here," Ozzie Guillen said. "When it's cold, I don't want to come to this place. You just sit there, you don't want to move, there are no people in the stands, people can't wait until the game's over. Baseball is for summer. They should start this game in July."