Worth noting

• For the sixth consecutive year, the White Sox -- who honored a group of military veterans dating back to World War II before Thursday's game -- wore specially designed "Stars & Stripes" caps from New Era for Independence Day, as part of Major League Baseball's ongoing fundraising and awareness initiatives for the Welcome Back Veterans organization.

Sergeant Stanley Ksiazek of the United States Army threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

• Jake Peavy (left rib fracture) is expected to throw another bullpen session on Friday in Tampa Bay after throwing a "light to medium" session on Tuesday in Chicago.

"It's one of those [situations where] it's kind of how he feels and you go from there ... where you probably don't expect him until after the break," Ventura said. "It's getting better. It's not one of those [things] that you can see. It's more of what he feels like when he throws. … It's one of those injuries that it isn't anything in his arm, so you're just being careful when he's going out there that he won't relapse."

• The White Sox are at the halfway point of their season heading into Thursday's game, and entered the day 15 games under .500.

"We're tying to get through the All-Star break," Ventura said. "When you sit here without having [Konerko and Crain] in there, you don't have your regular guys as far as turning it around, and guys are going to have to step it up. We'll get to that point first before we start looking beyond that."

• Ventura said right-hander Nate Jones would be available out of the bullpen on Thursday after he was held out on Wednesday night.