White Sox top Mariners

By Mark Gonzales | Tribune reporter

May 10, 2008

SEATTLE — Spacious Safeco Field isn't the main reason manager Ozzie Guillen is tweaking the White Sox's lineup this weekend.

"I don't care about egos," Guillen said Friday night. "I care about winning games."

He got what he wanted Friday night in a 4-2 victory over the Mariners. Jose Contreras evened his record at 3-3 by giving up one run on six hits in seven innings.

Guillen proved his point by not starting Nick Swisher, and he may give him Saturday night off as well.

Brian Anderson made his seventh start of the season in place of Swisher, who is 10-for-70 in his last 18 games.

"I think the break has to be more mental than physical," Guillen said. "He's going through a tough time now, but that's everyone else too."

Anderson may start Saturday in place of Swisher or Jim Thome against left-hander Jarrod Washburn.

Despite an impressive start against C.C. Sabathia on Opening Day, Thome was batting only .265 against left-handers going into Friday.

The lengthy struggles of Paul Konerko (.225, 1-for-13 slump) and Thome (.218) have Guillen considering moving Jermaine Dye and possibly A.J. Pierzynski up.

But Konerko may be breaking out of his funk after hitting a two-run double in the third and finishing 2-for-4, and Thome homered in the seventh.

The Sox took a 3-0 lead in the third off Silva by displaying the clutch hitting and patience that had deserted them recently.

Juan Uribe continued his renaissance by hitting an opposite-field single to right. Carlos Quentin, one of the few consistently productive hitters, hit a single to left, and Thome worked Silva for a walk to load the bases.

Konerko, a notorious pull hitter, then poked a ground-rule double just over Wladimir Balentien to score Uribe and Quentin.

Dye followed with a fly to center, and Ichiro Suzuki's off-line throw enabled the lumbering Thome to score the Sox's third run.

The early run support gave Contreras a cushion. He also got some help in the field in the fourth when Anderson reached near the top of the center-field fence, then crashed into it to rob Richie Sexson.

After Thome's homer made it 4-1, reliever Scott Linebrink pitched a perfect eighth, and Bobby Jenks gave up a two-out solo home run to Balentien in the ninth before closing it out.

"We have to win games," Guillen said. "We're going to face pretty good pitching staffs on the West Coast."

The Sox are scheduled to face former teammate Jon Garland at Angel Stadium on Wednesday.

"The easiest way to continue the respect [of my players] is to let them know what you think," Guillen said, adding that any change would be made only after talking to those affected. "If they tell me they don't like it, they can call their agent."

mgonzales@tribune.com