CHICAGO – Gordon Beckham, Alejandro De Aza and A.J. Pierzynski all had the same plan for the Chicago White Sox’s off day on Thursday.

They all planned to relax.

“When they give you a day off, you have to enjoy it.,” De Aza said.

That was made easier when the White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-0 on Wednesday.

The last few weeks had been trying for the White Sox. They had dropped 10 of their 14 previous games prior to Wednesday. They had suffered seven losses by one or two runs in June. With the Cubs winning the series’ first two games, the White Sox were guaranteed to drop their fifth consecutive series. Plus, it was their cross-town rival and last-place Cubs who were beating them.

The constant struggles of starting pitchers Philip Humber and Gavin Floyd and re-aggravated injuries to third baseman Brent Morel and starting pitcher John Danks also didn’t help.

On top of all that, the Cleveland Indians had surpassed them to retake the lead in the American League Central, and the Detroit Tigers have begun to show some life.

For all those reasons, the White Sox had to have Wednesday.

“Today was good,” said Beckham, who had a home run and four RBIs in Wednesday’s win. “We needed that.

“We’re playing hard. We’re doing the right thing. It’s just coming a little harder the last week and a half. We just got to keep working hard and hope it’s enough. There’s nothing else we can do.”

What Wednesday’s win also did was prevent the White Sox from being swept for the first time this season. The White Sox have dropped 12 series this season, but they haven’t allowed any opponent to take all three or four games in a series.

“I just think it’s a sign of a team that’s gritty and a team that won’t back down and a team that keeps fighting,” Pierzynski said. “The way the first two games went in the series it was definitely a possibility, but we found a way to come out and win today and have a good pitching performance (by Floyd.) It’s just a matter of going out, playing well, playing hard and good things will happen.”

The White Sox are hopeful more good things can happen when the Milwaukee Brewers come to town on Friday. Wednesday’s win doesn’t erase all the woes the White Sox endured in the recent weeks, but it should slow down those fans who have been acting as if the sky has been falling on the team.

As Beckham explained, the White Sox are still in a pretty good position.

“I think if they had asked us at the beginning of the season if would we take being a half game up or a half game out almost at the end of June, I think we would have taken it.,” Beckham said. “We’re playing the right way. We’ve had a tough week and a half, but tonight was a good start in the right direction.”