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CHICAGO – As they prepare for a series against the first-place Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox sit just 3 ½ games back in the standings. But the South Siders aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

In fact, if you talk to the team’s manager or its hottest hitter both say they are taking it one day at a time.

“That has kind of been preached to us since the start,” said Paul Konerko, who leads the AL in hitting going into Friday’s contest. “We have had a lot of games so far this season that have been tough losses, and we have bounced back the next day. Guys are buying in … and it’s a good attitude to have.”

The underselling of this important series may have worked for the White Sox so far, but at some point, this ball club will have to develop some swagger in order to play with the big boys. Pros like Konerko and manger Robin Ventura do not get excited about a team that is just one game over five hundred in a mediocre division.

”It’s nice when you get the win, but at this point we need to keep grinding and keep working trying to be the best team we can be ,” Konerko said.

The White Sox have won five of nine games against the Tribe this season. After this weekend’s series, they do not play Cleveland again until Oct. 1-3.

“It’s an important series because it’s a team in first place, but there is still a long way to go,” Ventura said. “There is still a long way to go, and it (won’t ) judge the season by what happens this weekend.”

All of that aside, there is already some fuel to this rivalry. Words were exchanged between Cleveland closer Chris Perez and Sox outfielder Alex Rios earlier this month. Perez mouth off to Rios as he made the last out of the game on May 3 and Rios got his revenge with an extra inning home run that beat Perez and the Indians in 10 innings on May 8.

In spite of what Konerko and Ventura say, expect anything but a “normal” series this weekend.

CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox right fielder Alex Rios is adamant he didn’t go looking to generate more power from his bat against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday and Thursday.

Instead, he believed the power found him.

After hitting one home run in his first 150 at-bats this season, Rios has driven out two homers in his last seven at-bats. He hit his second home run of the year Wednesday against the Twins and his third on Thursday against them at U.S. Cellular Field.

Rios also clubbed a double Thursday to give him six on the season. With the three extra-base hits, his slugging percentage rose from .369 to .414 in two days.

“I don’t know,” Rios said. “I don’t want to go to the plate thinking about hitting for power. I’m trying to have a good approach at the plate and put good swings on good pitches. If you do that, everything will go a better way.”

When asked again if anything had changed to create the recent power surge, Rios stayed firm on his answer.

“Just trying to have good approach,” Rios stated.

Rios’ power has varied over the years. He’s hit anywhere between 10-24 home runs in a given season since 2005. Since coming to the White Sox from the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009, Rios has hit a total of 40 home runs. He hit 21 homers in 2010 and 13 last season.

Despite Rios’ lack of power this season, he has been consistently hitting and getting on base, which he didn’t do last year when he batted .227 with a .265 on-base percentage. With two more hits on Thursday, his average improved to .274 and his OBP to .333, and that’s what’s been most important to White Sox manager Robin Ventura.

“I don’t know if he’s looking for more power,” Ventura said. “He’s been spraying it all over. Home-run-wise, he’s hit balls good that haven’t carried out. His at-bats and approach have been good. Maybe when it warms up, it’ll carry a little bit better. He’s been fine. He’s been having a lot of good at-bats for pretty much most of the year.”

STREAKING

1. Dayan Viciedo, LF: The hottest hitter in the lineup was benched on Friday due to Adam Dunn playing left field during interleague play. Viciedo has finally started to use the entire field in his hitting approach. He was 12 for 27 last week with four home runs and 10 RBIs. Hitting coach Jeff Manto has worked with him on keeping his head on the ball and not pulling off too early. One scout told me last week that Viciedo could be the next big-time home run champion when gets it all figured out.

2. Addison Reed, Closer: The newest White Sox closer is coming off his best and highest profile week of the season. Reed was supposed to be the closer coming out of spring training only to see Hector Santiago given the role. After Santiago and Matt Thornton failed to keep the job, manager Robin Ventura handed the ball to Reed, who consistently hits 98 mph on the radar gun. Reed had three saves and did not allow a run last week. The Sox appear to have found their closer for now.

SLUMPING

1. Alex Rios, RF: He continues his up and down habits that have had him on both the Streaking and Slumping list from week to week. Rios dropped an easy fly ball during the Cub series, allowing a brief ninth-inning rally to get going. Rios was 5 for 22 with with one RBI last week. He is still batting .272 with a home run and 15 RBIs this season. The Sox will stay with Rios knowing he will break out of it at some point.

2. Brent Morel, 3B: The young third baseman has made this list four times this season. A Trip to the disabled list is likely due to back spasms that have limited him since early March. With the signing of veteran infielder Orlando Hudson, Morel may get an extended period of time to rehab in order to find his batting stroke. Last week was typical of his season, going 3 for 22 with no home runs and one RBI. The only streak of solid hitting for Morel was last September when he hit eight home runs.

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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A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians in 10 innings at Progressive Field on Tuesday night.

How it happened: Paul Konerko led off the White Sox 10th with a single to left and two batters later Alex Rios tripled to drive home pinch runner Brent Lillibridge. Rios then scored on an Alexei Ramirez groundout. Sox starter John Danks sailed through the first seven innings before the Indians finally broke through with three runs in the eighth. The Indians Carlos Santana delivered the game-tying two-RBI hit off reliever Chris Sale. The White Sox had taken a quick lead in the first when Konkero and A.J. Pierzynski each drove in a run. Pierzynski added another RBI in the seventh.

What it means: The White Sox snapped a three-game losing streak and finally got another solid outing from a starter. Danks had allowed 13 runs combined in his previous two starts.

Outside the box: It was the White Sox’s first extra-inning victory of the year. They were 0-2 in extra innings entering Tuesday’s game.

Up next: In Wednesday’s finale of the four-game set, the White Sox’s Jake Peavy (3-1, 1.99 ERA) will face the Indians’ Jeanmar Gomez (2-1, 2.82 ERA) in a 6:05 CT start.

A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday night in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Progressive Field.

How it happened: After the White Sox tied the game in the top of the eighth on an RBI single from Alex Rios, the Indians tied it up in the bottom half. Shelley Duncan's double off Sox reliever Matt Thornton brought in Asdrubal Cabrera with the winning run. Eric Stults threw six innings in his White Sox debut, allowing two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

What it means: With Monday's doubleheader losses, the White Sox have dropped three straight games and are five games in back of the first-place Indians in the AL Central.

Outside the box: The game was delayed by rain for an hour and 25 minutes in the eighth inning.

Up next: The Sox and Indians continue their series on Tuesday at 6:05 CT. Probable starters are John Danks (2-4) for the Sox and Justin Masterson (1-2) for the Indians.

CHICAGO -- As Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez started to celebrate his team’s 7-5 win on Thursday night, Chicago White Sox outfielder Alex Rios took exception.

Believing that the demonstrative closer was yelling at him, Rios wasn’t so quick to leave the field. Instead he stared down Perez and began to shout in his direction.

Even as the dust of Chicago’s loss settled, Rios was still somewhat flummoxed.

“I don’t know what was wrong with him,” Rios said. “He just started yelling … for no reason. … When I hit the ground ball and I was running to first, he was yelling (at me) the whole way.”

The brief exchange between the two players escalated no further than a few words, however.

“I couldn’t tell what he was saying, he was just staring and saying something,” Rios said after the game. “If he was celebrating, that is not the right way to do it.”

Perez had a different take on the final out of the game.

“He might of thought I was yelling at him,” Perez said. “I wasn’t. I was yelling at my teammates, happy about the win.

According to both players, there was no past incident or bad blood between them prior to Thursday’s game.

“The only history we have is I gave up a grand slam to him last year,” Perez said. “He is a competitor, I am a competitor. He is on a different team. I am not friends with him. If he is mad I don’t care.”

The two teams play a four-game series in Cleveland beginning on Monday.

“You can use that as motivation in some way,” Rios said. “But let’s just play ball.”

Here’s a quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 4-0 win over the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum on Monday night.

How it happened: White Sox starting pitcher Jake Peavy was dominant for the fourth consecutive time this season. Peavy allowed three hits and no runs in nine innings against the Athletics to improve to 3-0 on the season. He lowered his ERA to 1.88 in 28 2/3 innings. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko made sure Peavy had enough run support as the duo hit back-to-back home runs in fourth inning. Alex Rios also continued swing a hot bat, posting his second consecutive three-hit game. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games and upped his average to .367.

What it means: The White Sox have now won four consecutive games on their West Coast trip. They also moved into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL Central with their win.

Play(s) of the game: Dunn sent Bartolo Colon's first pitch of the fourth inning over the right-field wall. A few pitches later, Konerko directed Colon’s delivery over the right-center wall.

Outside the box: Konerko is on the verge of joining an exclusive club. His home run Monday was his 399th of his career and moved him into a tie with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline for 48th on the major league all-time list. Only 47 players have hit 400 career home runs. Konerko has hit 392 of his home runs with the White Sox. He also hit four home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers and three for the Cincinnati Reds early in his career.

Up next: Gavin Floyd (1-2, 4.58) will look to bounce back from a loss in his last start when he takes the mound for the White Sox on Tuesday. Tommy Milone (2-1, 2.48) will start for the Athletics.

STREAKING

1. Philip Humber, SP: One of the hottest players in baseball pitches for the White Sox and who can argue with the 21st perfect game in the 136-year history of the game? The most impressive thing about Humber’s feat on Saturday was the pitch count (97) and, as the fifth starter, that he had to wait over two weeks to get his second start of the season. Humber, the third overall selection in the 2004 draft by the New York Mets, is the latest miracle delivered by pitching coach Don Cooper, who has worked his magic again in transforming someone else’s failed No. 1 pick into a White Sox success story.

2. Alex Rios, OF: The underachieving Rios is off to his best start since 2010 when he played All-Star-caliber baseball the first three months of that season. Rios is batting .333 with a home run and 7 RBIs. He has 10 hits in his last 20 at-bats and has driven in six runs in a span of six games. Rios told ESPNChicago.com he is thrilled to be back in right field which he considers his natural position. Rios’ defense has been outstanding, except for a few isolated situations.

SLUMPING

1. Dayan Viciedo, LF: After a decent start to the season Viciedo’s hitting has faded over the past week. He is stuck in a 2-for-22 slump with one RBI in the last week of play. To his credit, Viciedo’s defense has continued to improve as he gets use to the new outfield position. The coaching staff still believes Viciedo, who is batting .186 with two home runs and 2 RBIs, will be a strong run producer this season.

2. Brent Morel, 3B: Morel makes this list for the second straight week even with some improvement in the past couple of games. He is in a 3-for-25 slump, and 22 strikeouts in 51 at-bats projects to 220 whiffs in 500 at-bats. Hitting coach Jeff Manto has been working with the young infielder to help him drive the ball to right field. Defense has not been an issue, although Morel had a few rough games early on with the glove.

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 right fielder Alex Rios admits he is a different hitter today than any other season.

Rios constantly changes his mechanics at the plate. Coming off the worst season of his nine-year major league career, it isn’t his mechanics he’s worried about in 2012. He is just looking for some consistency.

“When I said consistency, I’m trying to get a better strike zone and swinging at better pitches,” Rios said prior to Wednesday’s game. “It’s not about mechanics or stuff like that. I’m trying to have a good approach and have that approach consistently.

“It’s not like I’m going to go through my whole mechanics because you’ll always change. At least me, myself, I change my mechanics very often.”

Rios believes last season’s struggles – a .227 average, .265 on-base percentage, .348 slugging percentage – were because he didn’t have the proper approach at the plate. He sees improvement early in the season.

“I’m trying,” Rios said. “It’s not something that happens real quick. I feel good. Hopefully, I can develop my good approach sooner than later.”

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- White Sox fans have plenty of questions about their 2012 ball club. A few of those question might have been answered during Saturday night’s 2-1 win over the Rangers.

Question No. 1: Which Jake Peavy will be on the mound for the Sox this season?

After forcing his way through six innings, Peavy tried to answer that one himself.

“Stuff-wise, it wasn’t very good,” Peavy said. “We knew that in the ‘pen it wasn’t great and we had to battle, but once I got the breaking ball away, I was alright.”

The Sox’s right-hander gutted his way through six innings, leaving the game with the score tied in the seventh frame.

“If I am going to be this healthy, I am going to be able to compete,” Peavy said. “We needed this win, we did.”

Question No. 2: Who is the closer ?

That was answered when rookie Hector Santiago trotted in after Alex Rios’ ninth-inning home run gave the Sox a 4-3 lead .

“It was kind of hinted (on Friday),” Santiago said. “We were just going at it out there, we didn’t know how it was going to roll out, but I guess it played out that way.

The young pitcher notched the team’s first save of the season and tried to give his manager the ball as a memento of his first managerial victory.

“I tried to gave it to him, but he gave me the ball back for my first save,” Santiago said. “That was great.”

Question No. 3: Will Alex Rios regain his All-Star form?

Rios started the season 0-for-7 before his game-winner in the ninth inning off White Sox killer Joe Nathan.

“I always try to do my best,” Rios said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work the way I want it to work, but I always play hard. The only thing I can do is keep working.”

Ventura ‘s first win as a manager came complete with a beer shower courtesy of his players.

“The whole thing was nice,” Ventura said. “You get a kid like Hector Santiago, who is a tough kid, (notch a save). Rios with the big home run, I like the feeling we have and the attitude they have when they come to work.”

»2012 White Sox Fantasy Projections: Starters | Relievers | INFs | Catchers | OFs

The White Sox may have the most underwhelming group of outfielders in the major leagues after trading Carlos Quentin and not bringing back leadoff man free agent Juan Pierre.

Cost-cutting put GM Kenny Williams in an unenviable position; he’s now using retreads and wannabes to replace the No. 1 and 3 hitters from last season’s lineup.

The team waited until mid-February to sign former Cub Kosuke Fukudome as a backup for all three outfield stops. Fukudome and Brent Lillibridge may get as much playing time as the starters.

Alex Rios will be the key to solidifying right field. The Sox hope returning him to his natural position will kick-start what once was a solid career. Rios had a brutal 2011 season, hitting .221 with 13 home runs and 44 RBIs. His performance at the plate aside, Rios’ defensive drop-off was infinitely more surprising.

Alejandro De Aza will replace Rios in center. De Aza came out of nowhere last season to claim a regular spot in the outfield. The former Florida Marlin played well enough in spring training to win the job and leadoff role in the batting order.

Management was happy to finally see some improvement in leftfielder Dayan Viciedo at the end of spring training. Switching from right to left has been a defensive nightmare for the 23-year-old Cuban. Up until the final week of camp, Viciedo looked like he never played the game, as he approached each contest with a startiling lack of energy.

Lilibridge has become a fan favorite, and why wouldn’t he? He got the job done at six positions and showed surprising power (13 home runs in 186 at-bats) last season. Fukudome may end up with 400 at-bats as a defensive replacement and starter against certain bottom of the rotation pitchers.

Three keys to success

• Rios returns to his 2010 performance levels as he responds to a return to right field.

• DeAza hits .290 and steals 30 bases while playing a solid centerfield.

• After a terrible spring training, Viciedo puts up 25 home runs and plays at least average outfield defense.

The White Sox will miss Japanese sensation Yu Darvish, who will not pitch in the first series of the season for Texas. The assumption was that Darvish would pitch in the third game which will be the first "Sunday Night Baseball" game of the season.

• Alex Rios was a late scratch on Thursday with a strained Achilles' tendon that he incurred on Wednesday in a collision with teammate Brent Lillibridge. Ventura said it was a precautionary move and Rios will most likely play on Friday.

• RHP Jesse Crain pitched in Cactus League competition for the first time since March 12. Crain pitched one scoreless inning, striking out one batter. Crain was returning from a right side oblique strain. His next outing will be Saturday.