Vazquez, Swisher figure in Sox win

Two of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's former players were right in the middle of the action Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Javier Vazquez, who had a falling out with Guillen toward the end of the 2008 season before being traded to the Atlanta Braves, started for New York and was booed off the mound after allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 3-plus innings.

"He struggled," Guillen said of Vazquez. "We had good at-bats against him. That one inning (the second) we let him off the hook. We couldn't finish him off but I think we handled him real well."

Guillen doesn't feel there are any lingering hard feelings between himself and Vazquez.

As for Nick Swisher, who played for the Sox in 2008, that's a different story.

After hitting a 2-run homer off relief pitcher Scott Linebrink in the sixth inning to put the Yankees in front 6-5, Swisher reacted as if he just hit the deciding home run in Game 7 of the World Series.

"That's the way he is," Guillen told reporters. "Good for him, enjoy it. I wish he could do it for me; he was a very horse(bleep) player for me."

Rios out, Cooper in: Alex Rios didn't play Saturday, returning to Chicago for the birth of his child. Rios is expected to rejoin the White Sox on Monday when they open a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.

Pitching coach Don Cooper returned to the Sox after reportedly taking care of a personal matter in Nashville, Tenn.

Good riddance: Manager Ozzie Guillen was happy to see April come to an end.

The White Sox were 9-14 during the first month thanks to the worst offense in baseball and a starting staff that failed to meet big expectations.

"Very bad month, very disappointing," Guillen said. "I thought deep in my heart we'd have a better start than what we did. We did a lot of good things but we did a lot of bad things, too.

"Defensively, we played good. Pitching, we played good. Our bullpen's fine, but our offense struggled. Hopefully, because now the weather starts to get better, we start to swing the bats better. It can be an excuse if you want to put it that way but hopefully it comes around and gets better."