With 4 straight wins, Sox hope it's turning around

If you're keeping score at home, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams didn't exchange any sucker punches or insults Saturday. And there was nary a nasty text or tweet between the two.

Conversely, the Sox did edge the Cubs 2-1 at Wrigley Field, extending their winning streak to four in the process. That is a season high, and the White Sox' confidence also is beginning to rise.

"I know we're getting the solid pitching," Juan Pierre said after Mark Buehrle gave the Sox their fifth straight quality start while finally looking a lot like his old self.

"We dug ourselves such a hole, it's going to take one of these runs to get back in this thing. Definitely, we're headed in the right direction. With this game (Sunday) and then going on the road, it's a big part of the year for us."

The Sox have played their last 11 games in Chicago - nine at U.S. Cellular Field and two against the Cubs at Wrigley. This was supposed to be the stretch where they turned it around and started putting some heat on the first-place Minnesota Twins.

Instead, the White Sox dropped two of three to the Texas Rangers and two of three to the Cleveland Indians, prompting Williams to announce roster changes were coming.

But since Williams said enough was enough Wednesday, the Sox have bounced back with the 4 straight wins.

Is Williams going to give the White Sox some more time before making trades?

"If you're going to ask me, I still believe," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I see those guys every day, I talk to those guys every day, I say yes we have a chance.

"But if you look at the game from the stands, you look at the game from any part of the ballpark or listen to the radio, you've got different ideas than I have. I don't blame those people.

"But I think we've got a pretty good team; we just don't perform. Hopefully we make Kenny change his mind. If we were playing good, we wouldn't be talking about that. We might be talking about adding people. We might ask Jerry (Reinsdorf) for money to get somebody else, because I know what Kenny wants, I know what Jerry wants, I know what the White Sox fans want, I know what I want."

Know what Paul Konerko wants? Five more wins in a row.

That would put the Sox at the .500 mark for the first time April 7, when they were 1-1. But even at 28-33, the White Sox have crept to five games under the break-even mark for the first time since May 11.

"We've been playing good baseball," said Konerko, who was 3-for-4 and drove in both of the Sox' runs Saturday. "I think we're just competing and doing what we should be doing.

"We're forgetting about what happened yesterday, last week or two weeks ago. We're just playing that game, that day, for what it is. It's working out. We've just got to keep doing that. I still think our goal has got to be .500 (first)."

Konerko continued his career assault at Wrigley Field on Saturday. He has hit safely in 17 straight games on the Cubs' home turf, the longest streak by any active opponent.

"I really can't explain it," Konerko said. "The six games you play against the Cubs are going to feel different than any regular-season games you play all year, and they're good."