by By Scot Gregor sgregor@dailyherald , Chicago Daily Herald

Against the Cubs on Friday at U.S. Cellular Field, Ramirez was clean in the field, but he was 0-for-3 with a walk and was booed after popping out in the sixth inning after Scott Podsednik led off with a single.

Guillen said he doesn?t need to talk to Ramirez about his defense, and benching isn?t in his plans at the moment.

"I make it clear, I never criticize my players for an error, a bad pitch, giving up a home run," Guillen said, "but when you don?t give me your best effort, that?s not going to work with me."

Guillen doesn?t expect Ramirez

to carry the offense, but he wants to see more life on defense.

"I want him to be the best shortstop he can be," Guillen said. "Alexei Ramirez is not going to be winning batting titles; he?s not going to win RBI titles. The only thing this kid can do is win a Gold Glove. And I know he has a chance to win a Gold Glove.

"Well, play like a Gold Glover."

Looking back: Jose Contreras was sharp for most of his start Friday, pitching 7? innings and matching his season high with 8 strikeouts.

But the veteran right-hander wasn?t happy with pitches he made to Jake Fox in the fourth inning (2-run homer) and Geovany Soto in the seventh (3-run homer).

"Two pitches that cost us the game," Contreras said through a translator. "I just left them up in the zone. Left them up, and those 2 pitches cost us."

Error of his ways: When Paul Konerko muffed a groundball off the bat of Mike Fontenot in the seventh, it ended his errorless streak at 118 games.

After Jake Fox singled with one out, Konerko tried backhanding Fontenot?s grounder.

"If you just pull up, you can go back to the bag and just get an easy out at first, and then you have a guy at second," Konerko said. "Then, if there?s a broken-bat hit, you feel sick. You aggressively go after it, and you know it?s kind of a do or die, and I died there.

"But it?s aggressive. You?re going to make errors. I?d rather make them hard and aggressive like that than laying back. No worries there."

Holtzman honored: Before Friday?s game, the White Sox paid tribute to Hall of Fame Baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who died on July 19, 2008.

The Sox unveiled a display in the main lobby that featured Holtzman?s old typewriter, photos and press passes and, of course, a cigar.

"I said this at the memorial service, he was a great friend and a mentor," said White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. "We used to talk on the phone all the time. He was cheery to the end."

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