Welcome home first-place Sox?
DETROIT -- Manager Ozzie Guillen could almost hear the negative chatter back in Chicago, and it only got louder after the White Sox lost the first two games of the season to the Cleveland Indians.
"Everybody thought we were going to get swept on this road trip and go back home 0-6,'' Guillen said.
The Sox are back at U.S. Cellular on Monday afternoon, and they'll play their home opener against the Minnesota Twins.
Shock of all shocks, they just might have sole possession of first place in the AL Central when starter Javier Vazquez takes the mound to face the Twins.
"That's awesome,'' Guillen said after the White Sox won their third straight on Saturday, a 5-3 decision over the still winless Tigers (0-5) at Comerica Park.
"I don't want to be in first place in April, I want to be in first place in September,'' Guillen added. "Now, people can relax a little bit about the way we play. Now, we're playing good baseball. We just have to play one game at a time and make sure those guys believe in themselves and make sure they don't let anything carry over to the next day.
"Every day is different and if you play like that and put the little things together, you'll have a good time and play well.''
Talk about different, the Sox didn't even have a hit against Detroit starter Dontrelle Willis until Jim Thome stroked a run-scoring double in the sixth after Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera drew consecutive walks to open the inning.
"I looked up in the fourth and fifth and asked (John) Danks, 'Have we gotten a hit yet?' '' Swisher said. "He said, 'No, we haven't.' So I tell you what, regardless of Dontrelle being in and out of the zone, he was hitting his spots at certain points. You definitely know he has the ability to do that and we were patient, got guys on and got walks and got the big runs when we needed it.''
Thome's RBI double knocked Willis out of the game, his first for the Tigers after accompanying Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in a splashy off-season trade.
Willis allowed only 1 hit, but 7 walks sealed the early exit.
"I was terrible and that's pretty much it," Willis said. "But you still have to battle and try and keep your team in the game."
Leaving so many runners on base in the early going could have frustrated the Sox. And they had another reason to quit fighting in the fourth inning, when Carlos Quentin just missed hitting a 3-run homer to left (it was foul by a foot or two) before grounding into a double play.
Instead, the White Sox went ahead 4-3 in the sixth inning and added an insurance run in the eighth on Jermaine Dye's solo homer.
"I think that's the attitude -- positive,'' Guillen said. "We think positive. I don't want anybody to be crying in the dugout like, 'Oh, my God, we can't catch a break. Oh, look at what happened now.' I don't want to hear that. We went through that last year. We have to continue fighting and they're doing it.
"It's fun. It's fun to see those guys the way they go about their business right now. We never put our heads down. We know we're going to keep fighting until the end.''
Sox starter Gavin Floyd wound up with the win after pitching 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. Floyd gave up an RBI double to Brandon Inge in the second inning and a 2-run homer to Inge in the fourth as the Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead.
"I believe if (Floyd) believes what he can do, he should have a good career,'' Guillen said. "He gave up 1, 2 runs and was still the same guy. He shut it down right away and made pitches. He wasn't worried about them scoring runs and he made big pitches when he had to make them.''
White Sox 5, Tigers 3
At the plate: Jermaine Dye extended his hitting streak to eight games, dating to last season, with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Nick Swisher drew 3 walks and has 8 in five games. Paul Konerko (.188) was 0-for-3.
On the mound: Starter Gavin Floyd got the win after pitching 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.03 ERA in 5 career starts against Detroit. Bobby Jenks earned his third save in as many chances.
-- Scot Gregor