Guillen back to old self after Friday’s tough loss

Ozzie Guillen was obviously frustrated after Friday night’s 9-7 loss to the Rays.

Who can really blame the combustible manager, considering the White Sox held a 7-4 lead in the ninth inning?

All 5 of Tampa Bay’s runs off Matt Thornton were unearned courtesy of errors by shortstop Alexei Ramirez and left fielder Juan Pierre.

Maybe that’s why Guillen went ballistic when asked if he had any plans to move Thornton out of the closer’s spot.

“I might just put a bomb out there and kill everyone,” Guillen said. “What do you mean, what are my plans?”

Even for Guillen, that was a pretty harsh statement.

A day later, the old, perky persona was back.

“If I’m going to come here with my head down, I’m going to suck all my team in,” Guillen said. “Hey, are we ready to fight today? If we lose today, we have to be ready to fight tomorrow. It’s how we’re going to fight. If we lose fighting, I can sleep with that, I can live with that.”

And how did Guillen sleep after Friday’s horrific loss?

“I slept like a baby,” he said. “I woke up every two hours and started crying.”

Closer controversy?

Chris Sale got the call in the ninth inning Saturday, and he nailed down the save despite allowing Felipe Lopez’s leadoff home run.

On the surface, Sale’s appearance might look like Matt Thornton is out as closer, but manager Ozzie Guillen said that’s not the case.

“Thornton was beat up today,” Guillen said. “He threw a lot of pitches (33) yesterday. But this is what you’re going to see. I’m going to go with my gut feeling, if you’re throwing the ball better ...

“Obviously, Thornton is going to get most opportunities, but I’m the manager of this ballclub and I’m going to put the best guys out there, the ones I think are going to do the job. The way (Sergio) Santos is throwing, Sale is throwing, if Thornton needs a break we’ll give it to him.”

The daily Dunn

Adam Dunn (appendectomy) took some flips in the batting cage before Saturday’s game against the Rays.

The White Sox’ new designated hitter hopes to take batting practice Sunday, and if he plays against Oakland on Monday, that would be his self-proposed five games missed since having the surgery.

Manager Ozzie Guillen is still skeptical about such a quick recovery, but he does expect to have Dunn back in the lineup before the Sox close their 10-game homestand next Sunday against the Angels.

“I talked to Hermie (trainer Herm Schneider) and he said the progress is going slow but very sure,” Guillen said. “He said (Dunn) was swinging at 50 percent. There’s not a timetable yet. It’s up to him. He’s swinging the bat a little bit and that’s good news. I don’t expect him to miss that many more games from what we expected at the beginning.”