Dye, Cabrera mix it up in win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The White Sox rallied past the Royals for the second straight game Wednesday night, this time erasing a 5-0 deficit and winning 7-6.
Carlos Quentin deserves headline attention after hitting a pair of 2-run homers, but the all-star left fielder's heroics take a back seat to a dugout incident between right fielder Jermaine Dye and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.
"I don't have anything to say about it,'' was Dye's initial stance after the Sox won their fourth straight. "No comment.''
Cabrera was dressed and gone before reporters entered the postgame clubhouse.
After thinking it over, Dye headed to his locker and entertained questions.
"It was a misunderstanding,'' Dye said. "A little bit of a misunderstanding, basically.''
With the White Sox trailing Kansas City 6-5 in the eighth inning, Cabrera led off with a walk and, after Nick Swisher flied out, he stole second base.
After Quentin walked and the Royals made a pitching change, Dye came to the plate and Cabrera stole third.
Dye struck out swinging, and after Jim Thome singled to score Cabrera with the tying run, the two teammates had to be separated by starting pitcher Jose Contreras back in the dugout.
Was Dye upset with Cabrera for stealing third when he could have scored from second base on a single? Was Cabrera upset with Dye for striking out?
"I'm not going to go into what it was about,'' Dye said. "We're fine now. We're a family.''
Manager Ozzie Guillen also was fine with the way Dye and Cabrera handled the dispute.
"They were talking in the dugout, and everything is cool,'' Guillen said. "There was a misunderstanding and they hugged each other. I like that. Get it out and move on.''
Guillen said he'd much rather have players go at each other face to face - within reason - than stab each other in the back.
"If you want to say something, say it right away,'' Guillen said. "When you're a man, you say what you feel. You agree or you disagree and you move on.''
Guillen almost sounded like he's going to encourage more spats.
"I don't want good guys,'' Guillen said. "I want (bleeping) winners. Good guys finish last. This is a family and when you live with a family for so long, you're going to fight.''
As far as Dye is concerned, this round is over.
"Good teams have disagreements and they move on,'' Dye said.
In his first season with the Sox, Cabrera already has been in the middle of plenty of controversies. Dye said the latest was just coincidence.
"Orlando's a team player,'' Dye said. "No matter if it's Orlando or some other player, we're together.''
And the White Sox are winning games, even if the pitching is starting to slip a bit. The Sox bailed out starter Jose Contreras on Tuesday and did the same with Javier Vazquez on Wednesday.
"Good ballclubs pick each other up,'' Guillen said. "Early in the season, the pitching staff was picking the team up. Now the hitters are doing it.'