Dunn's big night should help Sox relax

Adam Dunn's 2 home runs lifted the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Indians Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field. Equally important, the Sox' slugger seemed to lift all of the pressure off the rest of his teammates in the lineup. We'll see how loose the White Sox are when they play the Indians at U.S. Cellular this afternoon on a beautiful day for baseball. The game was shifted from 7:05 p.m. to 1:05 p.m. to avoid a conflict with Yom Kippur. Hitting coach Jeff Manto said Dunn’s 2 HR should help all of the other scuffling hitters relax. "We were just waiting for that big hit time and time again,” Manto said. “On the road trip, time and time again we came up with guys in scoring position. I don't know how many times we came up with the bases loaded. And to see Adam take the stress off of everybody, that's what he's been doing all year." Manager Robin Ventura is hoping Dunn perks up the rest of the offense like Alex Rios did while hitting 2 homers in an 8-6 home win over the Angels on Aug. 3. “It built up, just the frustrations, and then you get a home run like that and that's a big one,” Ventura said. “Everybody can take a deep breath and just play. Sometimes it's easier said than done, but Dunn did it.” -There are only nine games left on the regular season schedule, but that’s enough time to give White Sox starters a little extra rest. Hector Santiago pitches in place of Jake Peavy Wednesday night vs. Cleveland. Peavy goes a day later and starts against the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday night at the Cell. Jose Quintana, Gavin Floyd and Chris Sale are next up vs. the Rays, and they also get an extra day of rest. “Even watching Chris last night, he's at a different point than he's been at in his career,” Ventura said. “It's just good to get him an extra day. Whenever that's happened, he's been a little stronger.”