Carrasco leads the way as bullpen saves Sox

On a day when the White Sox found themselves dealing with rumors of their possible interest in Toronto outfielder Alex Rios, manager Ozzie Guillen was asked if he felt there was anything his team did need for the stretch run.

"The only thing I need is quit making errors," Guillen said. "That's all I need. If we catch the ball, this ballclub will be better."

The White Sox went into Saturday's game against Cleveland with 8 errors in the last three games, but while they got an errorless game, they didn't need great defense as five pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts in an 8-5 victory over the Indians at U.S. Cellular Field that snapped a two-game losing streak.

Starter Carlos Torres didn't have it, but Randy Williams, D.J. Carrasco, Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks did out of the bullpen, combining for 1 run on 6 hits with 10 strikeouts over the final 52/3 innings.

Carrasco got the win, working 21/3 innings in the middle of the game to settle things down after the White Sox had fallen behind 5-1.

Carrasco (4-1) has been so solid in a long relief role that Guillen said he has toyed with the idea of using the right-hander as a fifth starter until Jake Peavy is ready to join the rotation.

"We talk about it, we do," Guillen said. "We should try it. Maybe we need 2 or 3 starts without Peavy and we have to find the best guy.

"The reason we haven't made the move is the only guy I can count on in that role is Carrasco."

Carrasco would love a chance to start. "I would welcome those conversations if they wanted to do that," he said.

Torres made his second start in the fifth role and walked six before leaving in the fourth inning down 4-1. The deficit could have been worse had he not pitched out of big trouble in the first when he walked the bases full with one out.

"He was very off," Guillen said. "A lot of balls. It could have been ugly."

The White Sox tied the game at 5-5 with 4 runs in the fifth on Jim Thome's 2-run homer and Carlos Quentin's 2-run double off reliever Tomo Ohka.

The win pulled the White Sox back within 2 games of first-place Detroit.

"The last couple games we were very flat and I thought it was another one of those games," Guillen said. "When Jimmy hit the home run everybody put their head up and started swinging the bat like we can."

Three hours before the game, infielders Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, Chris Getz and Jason Nix were on the field taking groundballs after their shaky week of defense.

General manager Kenny Williams defended his young infielders, however.

"I got a guy at shortstop who is playing shortstop for the first time in a number of years," Williams said of Ramirez. "We've got a guy at third base (Beckham) who is more of a natural shortstop and he is adapting to the role tremendously.

"Chris Getz has played a good (second base), although he needs to get a little quicker on turning his double plays. And Jayson Nix, up until the last week, has been solid."