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Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn seemed destined to play in Chicago at some point in his career, but not necessarily on the south side.

“(Former Cubs general manager) Jim Hendry and I had a great relationship,” Dunn said. “At some point I wanted to play in Chicago before my career ended, whether it would be here (Sox) or there (Cubs). I definitely wanted to play in this city. “

Hendry considered signing Dunn as a free agent but did not think the slow-footed outfielder could play right field. At the time the Cubs had Derrek Lee at first base and Alfonso Soriano in left field. Dunn signed with the Washington Nationals and the Cubs went the way of Milton Bradley in a decision that contributed to Hendry’s firing in 2011.

“I stayed out of talks between my agent and Jim,” Dunn said. “I stayed close with Jim and everything worked out for me.”

Hendry was pushed again to sign Dunn by his players after the 2010 season, but was already in the mode of paring down his payroll when the Sox signed him to a four-year, $56-million contract in December 2010.

Playing at Wrigley as the Sox left fielder will be exciting and challenging for the 32-year-old, who has not played the outfield since 2009. “The fans are right there with you and it’s fun when they come up with original stuff,” Dunn said. “They are right on top of you but they don’t get an acknowledgment if it isn’t original or funny.”

Dunn hasn’t really had a chance to grow on Sox fans due to his awful season in 2011, however he likes what both fan bases bring to the ballpark.

“At Wrigley each game is more like an event -- not really a party, but a happening every night,” Dunn said. “People go for before and after the game as much as the game itself. Sox fans come because they really enjoy baseball.”

Dunn leads all active opposing players in home runs at Wrigley with 25.

“I always see the ball well at Wrigley,” he said.

CLEVELAND -- Alex Rios wasn't seeking revenge against Cleveland closer Chris Perez.

He got it anyway.

Rios tripled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3 Tuesday night.

On May 3, Perez retired Rios for the final out of a 7-5 win in Chicago and the excitable closer started pumping his fist and yelling. Rios took exception to it, thinking it was directed at him.

After delivering to help Chicago win for only the second time in eight games, Rios said it was no big deal.

"It was just part of baseball," Rios said. "I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere and it worked out pretty good."

Perez (0-1) was peeved at losing. Asked if he was surprised by his outing, the normally genial reliever shot back,

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Greg Walker returned to Chicago Monday for the first time since he resigned as hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox with no regrets as to how his nine-year run ended on the South side.

A happier, more relaxed Walker, in town to face the Chicago Cubs in his new role as the Atlanta Braves hitting coach, admitted his last two seasons with the White Sox were tough on everyone. Last season during an early-August heated exchange in the Sox clubhouse, general manager Kenny Williams briefly fired Walker, before chairman Jerry Reinsdorf got involved and smoothed things over.

“I shook Kenny’s hand when I left at the end,” Walker said. “I wished him well . As long as he is working for Jerry I will be pulling for him to do a good job.”

Walker then left the subject of Williams, but it is clear there is no relationship left between the two men who worked closely for nine years.

“Jerry Reinsdorf has been very special in my life and I can’t begin to tell you all the great things he has done for me and my family,” Walker said. “I have a lot of great friends in that organization, but right now I have moved on.”

The White Sox’s lost seasons of 2010 and 2011 took their toll on the 53-year-old Georgia native, who was blamed for the sputtering offense and the lack of development of young players such as Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel.

“I am human and I didn’t enjoy some of the things that were said about me,” Walker said. “When you are in a big market like Chicago there will be some negatives, but the positives far outweighed the down times.”

Walker was asked to return as the Sox hitting coach by new manager Robin Ventura after he had quit the job last fall.

“I told him that it was time for me to move on,” Walker said. “I was not the same guy over there any longer, so as much as I would have loved to work with Robin, I said no and wished him the best.”

Walker didn’t care to go into the fractured details of what went wrong for himself and the rest of the Sox coaching staff, but admitted it is fun again to come to the ballpark without the politics that existed in his last two seasons in Chicago. Ozzie Guillen, who also had some contentious battles with Williams, also left the Sox after last season.

“The positives I will always cherish from my time working there, but it did not end up good,” Walker said. “The game is hard enough to play when everyone is pulling in the same direction and it got bad over there, and it is now well documented what happened.”

The Braves have averaged nine runs over their last four games and have scored 273 runs in 2012, the second highest total in the National League. Maybe having better hitters is the key to being a successful hitting coach.

“We have a great team and they are playing well,” Walker said. “I am enjoying coaching more than I have in a long time. It’s a lot of fun again.”

It might be a little early to start handing out All-Star ballots, but Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale is certainly opening up some eyes around the American League. Sale won his third game of the season on Tuesday, allowing just one run in six innings in a 7-2 victory over Cleveland.

The young left-hander was more excited about teammate Gordon Beckham's breakout three-hit game than his third win of the season.

“That was probably the [most fun] part of the game tonight watching Gordon go off,” Sale said. “He was taking good at-bats, taking good swings. Yeah, I think we got him back.”

Before the game manager Robin Ventura confirmed his belief in both Beckham and third baseman Brent Morel, who have been slumping with the bat since the season began. Ventura did say that at some point both needed to begin producing in order to remain starters.

“He swung it well,” Ventura said. “That’s just a part of believing in himself and that he keeps working at it. It’s just nice to see that it does pay off and that he hasn’t gone down that path of not believing in himself.”

Beckham not only hit his first home run of the season, he broke out of an 0-for-10 slump and doubled his RBI output from two to four. Beckham pointed to a good at-bat on Saturday night that may have jump started his offensive outburst on Tuesday.

“I battled in that at-bat,” Beckham said. “I didn’t feel great and knew that the game was on the line and did not give in, so that definitely was a good at-bat.”

A.J. Pierzynski started the White Sox scoring with his fifth home run of the season in the second inning of off Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Much like his teammates, Pierzynski was excited for Beckham.

“April is over and he and Albert Pujois went homer-less in April,” Pierzynski joked. “It was nice to see him get his first one out of the way. That should help him relax and use the whole field.”

With a record of 12-11 the Sox are in a three-way tie for first place in the AL Central with the Tigers and the Indians.

A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

How it happened: Thanks to an error-filled third inning the White Sox were able to put up four runs in support of starter Chris Sale. Gordon Beckham had his best offensive night of the season, leading off the third inning with his first home run of the season of off Cleveland starting pitcher Ulbaldo Jimenez and finishing with three hits. The Sox got a break on an infield popup that was lost in the smoke from the exploding score board that had blown into the infield. They scored three more runs on an error, two walks and a fielder’s choice. A.J. Pierzynski continues to have great at-bats, hitting his fifth home run of the season with one out in the second inning.

What it means: The White Sox moved into a first place tie with Cleveland and Detroit after another masterful outing by Sale, who is 2-0 against the Indians in 2012. Beckham had his first three-hit game of the year and doubled his RBI output from two to four. Beckham was in an 0-10 slump before hitting his home run.

Outside the box:The White Sox are now 5-1 against the American League Central after going 32-40 in their division during 2011. Both Beckham and Brent Morel started to hit after manager Robin Ventura said that both players needed to improve their performance soon.

Up next: Right-hander Phil Humber (1-1, 4.66) and Cleveland right-hander Josh Tomlin (1-2 5.48) are the starting pitchers for Wednesday’s 7:10 start at U.S. Cellular Field.

Patience had been Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura's mantra as he watched both Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham struggle with the bats this season.

On Tuesday the manager admitted, at that some point, his patience may wear thin if his pair of infielders do not get their act together.

“Eventually you have to do something about it,” Ventura said. “Right now I still believe in what I see and talking to them I am still confident that they are going to perform.”

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Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura knows his offense has been struggling, but for right now, he’s not losing any sleep over it.

“There’s not a lot you can do, this is who we are,” Ventura said. “You work at it, you look at stuff and try and help guys out. We haven’t spent any all-nighters in here.”

When Ventura says this is who the White Sox are, hopefully he doesn’t mean they’re a team that will average two runs a game, which is what they’ve done during their five-game losing streak.

Ventura decided to give two struggling players, Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham, days off on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. Beckham is hitting .153, Morel is hitting .178 and neither has a home run on the season. Ventura said he’s just going with a different look with the lineup, but wasn’t committing to any permanent changes. Ventura said he’d wait and see how things go on Sunday, but expected them to both be back in the lineup on Tuesday.

“I think a lot of it has become mental, it mounts up on them,” Ventura said of Morel and Beckham’s struggles. “These are just little mental breaks, giving them this day and they have [Monday] off and then they’ll be back at it. You look at Gordon, the at-bat he had last night, it was a good at-bat. He just didn’t get a hit. But he grinded it out, the competitiveness was there. He competed that at-bat.”

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Among the many ifs for the Chicago White Sox this season was whether Alex Rios could return to form at the plate after enduring the worst season of his career last year.

While it is still too early to get overly high or low on a player through 15 games and less than 50 at-bats, Rios has shown early signs he and his bat have turned the corner. And with Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and A.J. Pierzynski all in a groove at the plate leading up to Rios in the lineup’s six hole, Rios’ emergence has given the White Sox a formidable lineup so far this season.

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Here’s a quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 7-4 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Sunday.

How it happened: Alex Rios and Paul Konerko continue to swing hot bats for the White Sox. Rios extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single, double and triple and three RBIs on Sunday. He delivered a shot into the left-field gap for a triple in the sixth inning, scoring two runs to tie the game at 4-4. Kosuke Fukudome gave the White Sox the lead when he drove in Rios with a sacrifice fly. Konerko also singled and doubled and has reached base in 14 of 15 games this season. Konerko has a team-best 20 hits and is hitting .362. White Sox starter John Danks didn’t have great stuff, but he had enough to get by and improved to 2-2. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs, struck out six and walked four in six innings. The bullpen made its fifth consecutive scoreless outing after allowing seven runs over its previous three games.

What it means: The White Sox completed their first three-game sweep of the season. They’ve bounced back nicely after dropping three of their previous four games at home. They’re now three games over .500 for the second time this season. The worst they can do on their current six-game road trip is 3-3.

Play(s) of the game: The Mariners threw out two White Sox runners at home plate. Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki delivered a strike to catcher Miguel Olivo to get Fukudome out in the fourth inning, and shortstop Brendan Ryan threw out Adam Dunn trying to score on a grounder.

Outside the box: The White Sox and Danks have been dominant against the Mariners in recent years. The White Sox won their eighth consecutive game at Safeco Field, and Danks improved to 7-0 in his last eight starts against the Mariners.

Up next: The White Sox remain on the West Coast and open a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Monday. Jake Peavy (2-0, 2.75) will look to make his fourth consecutive quality start of the season for the White Sox. Athletics starter Bartolo Colon (3-1, 2.63) is in a tie with eight other pitchers with a major-league-best three wins.

CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura said Tuesday he hasn’t lost faith that third baseman Brent Morel is going to be a productive hitter in the No. 2 slot this season.

Morel hasn’t gotten off to a strong start like he did a year ago. Last season, Morel compiled 10 hits in the team’s first seven games. This season, he’s had three hits in his first 29 at-bats and has a .103 batting average. He’s also second on the team in strikeouts with 13, including four in the past two games.

“I still think he’s going to be more of a contact hitter, hit line drives,” Ventura said prior to Tuesday’s game. “I believe that, believe in him doing that. He’s going to stay there. He just needs to be a little more aggressive in the zone, and things will turn around for him.”

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Will the real Gordon Beckham please stand up -- and be counted on to hit at least .275 in the Major Leagues.

The Chicago White Sox second baseman has been going downhill at the plate since his breakout 2009 campaign that produced a third-place finish in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

Once again, early season struggles from Beckham have raised the question whether or not a trip to the minor leagues would be the fastest way to solve his hitting woes.

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CHICAGO -- Clutch hitting failed the Chicago White Sox in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. While the Sox recorded a home run for the fifth straight game and Paul Konerko extended his hitting streak to seven games, the club left six runners on base and hit just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Rick Porcello had the Sox’s number, allowing five hits and a run over 7 2/3 innings, keeping them off-balance throughout the day.

“Even when we got a couple guys on, he took it to another level and seemed like he was spotting a little better in tougher situations,” manager Robin Ventura said. “In a lot of ways you just tip your hat and come back tomorrow.”

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CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field.

How it happened: Gavin Floyd rebounded against the defending AL Central champion Detroit Tigers, throwing six scoreless innings for his first win of the season. Floyd out-dueled rookie Adam Wilk, who took the loss after scattering two runs on three hits in five innings. He left the game with a left shoulder contusion. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez got the Sox on the board with a solo home run in the second inning, his second of the season. Catcher Tyler Flowers, starting in place of A.J. Pierzynski, hit his first homer of the season, also a solo shot, in the fifth. Adam Dunn drove in Brent Morel with a hard double to right-center field in the sixth. Detroit right fielder Brennan Boesch ruined the shutout with a home run in the eighth off of reliever Jesse Crain. Paul Konerko hit his 397th career home run in the eighth, breaking a tie with Joe Carter to place him 51st on the all-time home run list.

What it means: The Sox won their fourth straight game and second in a row over the Central Division favorites.

Outside the box: Prior to the game, manager Robin Ventura said it’s too early to express concerns over any players’ early season struggles. Gordon Beckham struck out for the 10th time this season on Saturday while Dunn recorded his 11th strikeout. “It’s going to be a while,” said Ventura, who didn’t single out any one player. “It’s more of their approach than it is what the numbers are. I like what I see and what they bring and so it’ll be a while.”

Up next: Chris Sale (1-0) takes the mound against Detroit right-hander Rick Porcello (0-0) in the final game of the series at 1:10 p.m. CT Sunday.

CHICAGO -- Since we’re here on the South Side, the home of unvarnished opinions and un-ironic mustaches, you have to lead with the bad.

So here’s the bad: Gordon Beckham needs a treasure map to get to first base. He struck out three times on Friday and now has nine Ks in 20 at-bats. The new Adam Dunn racked up the Camo Sombrero: where you get credit for working really hard in a four-strikeout game. Even the grounds crew had a bad day. Miguel Cabrera won an argument that the batter’s box was improperly placed and the Sox had to call in a new one from the bullpen. The coffee maker is already out of order in the pressbox and the scoreboard misspelled “struck out” as “stuck out.” That is ironic since it’ll be using that phrase A LOT this season.

But forget all that noise. The White Sox beat the Tigers 5-2 in their home opener and, for a day, you could forget the carryover problems from 2011’s train wreck and just “appreciate the game,” as the Sox’s marketing department has opined.

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Chicago White Sox third baseman Brent Morel's horrific opening day left him dropped from second to eighth in Robin Ventura’s batting order in Game 2 of the series.

Morel went hitless on Friday, striking out four times. However that was not the worst of it, as he also bobbled a ball on defense that led to the go-ahead run scoring in the sixth inning.

“He is going to save more games than he is going to hurt us [in],” John Danks, who took the loss Friday, said. “He’s a damn good third baseman and he will be there all year helping the pitchers out.”

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