Thornton undeterred by lack of breaks in his favor

HOUSTON -- Of the four homers given up by White Sox left-handed reliever Matt Thornton, three have come from left-handed hitters in Washington's Adam LaRoche, Seattle's Michael Saunders and Houston's Jason Castro. Thornton, though, doesn't mind the long ball, as long he's challenging hitters.

"I'm not scared of giving up homers. I throw strikes, so I'm going to give up homers, but it's kind of funny how it's happened this year," Thornton said. "I actually got a kick out of yesterday because that ball [Castro hit] went 316 feet and it was a home run and [Carlos] Pena hit a ball 404 feet [off Thornton] and he gets an F8. That's just the game of baseball."

Saunders' was a wind-blown shot to left-center at U.S. Cellular Field, where Thornton had to retrieve his hat from near the opposing dugout after the pitch. Castro's drive carried just over the wall down the left-field line, adding to a run of less than great luck over the past couple of years for the veteran.

"Ever since they named me the closer in the spring of 2011, it seems like I haven't exactly got a lot of breaks," a smiling Thornton said. "But that's part of the grind. You come back and keep on going and attacking guys, and I'm going to give up runs, give up hits, I know that, but it's about minimizing and bouncing back the next day."