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Levine: White Sox Come Home A Confident Club

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The White Sox returned to Chicago a better club after winning five of six on their last road trip.

The better record has been just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The team has won four straight series as it returned home to Chicago for a seven-game homestand.

Manager Robin Ventura and his players were under fire as they had recently fallen six games under the .500 mark. Although they are still behind three teams in their own division, the White Sox credibility issue has been solved.

Better pitching and defensive play have been keys to the sudden turn around.

"We have gotten better pitching lately," Ventura said. "When you do that and play clean behind them, you eliminate a lot of the opportunities for the other team. It gives those guys a lot of confidence pitching around the zone and not thinking they have to strike everyone out."

The White Sox are playing in the only division in baseball in which four clubs are at .500 or above. Going up against last-place teams three series in succession has been a cure-all for the South Side ball club.

Ventura can also point to a more confident group of professional players who are meshing together as a unit.

"When you play like this, you have some men on base, hits that fall in there and runs that score late," Ventura said. "Offensively, you start feeling better about yourself. Adam (Eaton) is getting on base, creating some havoc. Right now, it's just about playing baseball. These guys are confident when they go out there they are going to win a game ."

The clubhouse fun started with the Adam Eaton "stir the straw" T-shirts on the last homestand. That helped loosen up and bring together a group of veteran players on a new club.

To his credit, Ventura has stayed consistent through all the good and bad on the field.

"You just continue to let them play," he said. "It's their confidence that needs to be high. Mine is going to be the same, regardless.

"Their confidence is quite a bit higher than it has been earlier in the year."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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