Ozzie to fans: Save it

The way White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen sees it, Bobby Jenks is not Mike MacDougal. He's not Ryan Bukvich, Ehren Wasserman, Sean Tracey or any other Sox relief pitcher of recent vintage that has been competitively challenged.

Guillen's analysis is accurate - Jenks has been one of the game's best closers since 2005, when he came up from Class AA Birmingham midway through the season and helped the White Sox win the World Series.

Last year the burly right-hander became the second-fastest pitcher in history to record 100 saves, and Jenks is a career 139-for-158 (88 percent) closing out games.

Jenks nearly blew a save against Tampa Bay on Monday night, and when he struggled again Tuesday while coughing up a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, the two-time all-star was showered with boos at U.S. Cellular Field.

Before Wednesday night's 4-3 victory, in which Matt Thornton worked the final 2 innings to earn his first save of the season, Guillen fired back at the furious fans.

"It's a shame how short a memory people have," Guillen said. "A real shame. I grew up in this city, and when you blow one game, not two, just one, obviously that broke their heart. There's nobody in this room that feels worse than him.

"All of a sudden people treat him like a piece of garbage, and the way they treat him is not fair. It's not fair. This guy since we got him has been great. He will continue to be great. He's a human being; he had a bad night.

"I know he will turn the corner and continue to have success. But that hurt and made me really upset and (ticked). When a kid has a bad night and we treat him like that, that's really a shame. It's sad.

"Because all of a sudden, what do you think is going to go to his mind? If this kid blows 20 saves in a season I don't blame you guys, not the media, but people out there acting the way they are.

"That's pretty, I want to say, pretty embarrassing. Wow, what did this kid do to this town to make people treat him like that? He's my closer. and if people don't want him to be my closer, don't come to the (bleep bleep) game."

After throwing a combined 48 pitches against Tampa Bay, Jenks got Wednesday night off.

The 28-year-old reliever has allowed 6 earned runs on 10 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings over his last 5 outings, raising his ERA from 3.14 to 4.24.

Jenks said health is not an issue during the recent slide.

"It's been frustrating more than anything, knowing I'm 100 percent healthy and going out there and not seeing the results with the way I feel," Jenks said. "I think that's the biggest thing for me right now, just trying to get past the frustration, trying to do the little things on the side to get back to where I was."

Jenks has given up hits in past seasons, but a lack of command seems to be the most pressing current woe.

"I looked at video earlier today and there's nothing too serious mechanically that needs to be fixed," Jenks said. "It's just a little rut I'm in right now. Try to pitch through it and see if I can get better."

If Jenks' slide continues, Guillen will weigh other options for the ninth inning. But for now he's not looking for a new closer.

"Bobby is still my closer," Guillen said. "He will be my closer until he can't do it anymore. Bobby will turn around. He's not going to sit in his house and cry about it. He's a grown man, he's blown saves before, he will blow a save again.

"I have 100 percent confidence he can do the job."

Scot Gregor's game tracker

White Sox 4, Rays 3

Wednesday's grade: B+. The Sox survived in their third straight 1-run game vs. Tampa Bay, getting big hits from Scott Podsednik, Alexei Ramirez and Jermane Dye, a big assist from Rays center fielder B.J. Upton and solid relief pitching from Matt Thornton.

Save the day: Thornton pitched 2 scoreless innings to earn his first save since June 30 of last season. The big lefty is 6-for-6 lifetime in save situations.

Promising debut: In his first big-league start, Carlos Torres pitched 6 innnings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.

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