Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and Detroit finished off its sweep in emphatic fashion, routing the White Sox 18-2 on Sunday night.

“At the end of the game, you are almost laughing because we couldn’t do anything to stop them,” said Guillen, Chicago’s manager. “Just have to move on.”

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila scored a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6½ games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland. Chicago is 8½ back.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

“We needed to come here and make a statement. We had to win two of three, if not sweep them, and that’s the furthest thing from what actually happened,” Buehrle said. “We’re not mathematically eliminated, but a smart man isn’t going to like our chances right now. We’re not going to give up, but we’re in big trouble.”

It was the second-biggest blowout in the major leagues this season, according to STATS, LLC. Cleveland beat Kansas City 19-1 on May 16.

Cabrera’s two-run homer into the bushes behind the center-field wall highlighted a seven-run sixth inning.

Although Justin Verlander is making a bid for the Cy Young Award, the depth of Detroit’s rotation has been an issue. Scherzer allowed seven runs in three innings against Kansas City on Monday, but he was much sharper against Chicago, striking out the side in the third and facing the minimum 12 hitters through the first four innings.

Not that Detroit needed a dominant pitching performance.

Austin Jackson led off with a double in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on Victor Martinez’s single. The Tigers scored three runs in the third. Martinez and Avila hit RBI singles, and when Jhonny Peralta hit a grounder to short for a potential inning-ending double play, second baseman Gordon Beckham’s throw to first skipped away for an error, allowing Martinez to score.

The White Sox compounded their poor pitching by making three errors on the night.

Delmon Young made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fourth, and Cabrera’s double to left-center brought home two more runs and ended Buehrle’s night. It was his shortest outing since June 6, 2010, when he pitched three innings against the Indians.

Reliever Addison Reed, making his major league debut, allowed RBI singles by Avila and Peralta later in the fourth to make it 9-0.

Guillen said before the game he wants to be in Chicago next year. He’s signed through 2012 with the White Sox.

“All my desire, everything, is to be in Chicago,” he said. “I don’t know why people think I want to leave.”

No matter what happens, he’ll probably want to forget this game.

With the score out of hand, both teams began substituting liberally, although Guillen — trying to preserve pitchers for a Monday doubleheader at Minnesota — left right-hander Shane Lindsay out on the mound for the entire sixth inning. Lindsay, whose mother managed to travel from Australia on short notice to see her son’s major league debut Friday night, allowed seven runs and eight hits in his only inning of work Sunday.

Peralta hit a two-run double, Brandon Inge added an RBI single, pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit a two-run single, and Cabrera made it 16-0 with a towering, 425-foot homer, his 26th of the year.

“I didn’t want to leave the kid out there — no one wants to see that — but we couldn’t do anything with a doubleheader tomorrow,” Guillen said. “That was hard for me to see and hard for everyone.”

Dirks added a two-run homer in the eighth.

“It’s almost a little surreal at times when you’re scoring that many runs,” Dirks said. “At the same time, it’s just one game. It doesn’t matter if you win by two or you win by 20.”

NOTES: Guillen said before the game OF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) may not return any time soon. … Guillen went about halfway to second base in the second inning after Alex Rios was called out stealing, apparently ready to argue the call. Then he seemed to change his mind and went back to the dugout. … Both teams face quick turnarounds for day games Monday. Detroit is at Cleveland, and Chicago plays its doubleheader at Minnesota. The White Sox will send Philip Humber (8-8) and Zach Stewart (1-2) to the mound against Minnesota’s Anthony Swarzak (3-5) and Scott Diamond (1-2).

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DETROIT (AP) — Ozzie Guillen and the Chicago White Sox arrived in Detroit hoping to start a last-ditch rally for the AL Central title.

Instead, their playoff hopes are in shambles after three ugly losses to the Tigers.

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and Detroit finished off its sweep in emphatic fashion, routing the White Sox 18-2 on Sunday night.

“At the end of the game, you are almost laughing because we couldn’t do anything to stop them,” said Guillen, Chicago’s manager. “Just have to move on.”

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila scored a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6½ games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland. Chicago is 8½ back.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

“We needed to come here and make a statement. We had to win two of three, if not sweep them, and that’s the furthest thing from what actually happened,” Buehrle said. “We’re not mathematically eliminated, but a smart man isn’t going to like our chances right now. We’re not going to give up, but we’re in big trouble.”

It was the second-biggest blowout in the major leagues this season, according to STATS, LLC. Cleveland beat Kansas City 19-1 on May 16.

Cabrera’s two-run homer into the bushes behind the center-field wall highlighted a seven-run sixth inning.

Although Justin Verlander is making a bid for the Cy Young Award, the depth of Detroit’s rotation has been an issue. Scherzer allowed seven runs in three innings against Kansas City on Monday, but he was much sharper against Chicago, striking out the side in the third and facing the minimum 12 hitters through the first four innings.

Not that Detroit needed a dominant pitching performance.

Austin Jackson led off with a double in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on Victor Martinez’s single. The Tigers scored three runs in the third. Martinez and Avila hit RBI singles, and when Jhonny Peralta hit a grounder to short for a potential inning-ending double play, second baseman Gordon Beckham’s throw to first skipped away for an error, allowing Martinez to score.

The White Sox compounded their poor pitching by making three errors on the night.

Delmon Young made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fourth, and Cabrera’s double to left-center brought home two more runs and ended Buehrle’s night. It was his shortest outing since June 6, 2010, when he pitched three innings against the Indians.

Reliever Addison Reed, making his major league debut, allowed RBI singles by Avila and Peralta later in the fourth to make it 9-0.

Guillen said before the game he wants to be in Chicago next year. He’s signed through 2012 with the White Sox.

“All my desire, everything, is to be in Chicago,” he said. “I don’t know why people think I want to leave.”

No matter what happens, he’ll probably want to forget this game.

With the score out of hand, both teams began substituting liberally, although Guillen — trying to preserve pitchers for a Monday doubleheader at Minnesota — left right-hander Shane Lindsay out on the mound for the entire sixth inning. Lindsay, whose mother managed to travel from Australia on short notice to see her son’s major league debut Friday night, allowed seven runs and eight hits in his only inning of work Sunday.

Peralta hit a two-run double, Brandon Inge added an RBI single, pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit a two-run single, and Cabrera made it 16-0 with a towering, 425-foot homer, his 26th of the year.

“I didn’t want to leave the kid out there — no one wants to see that — but we couldn’t do anything with a doubleheader tomorrow,” Guillen said. “That was hard for me to see and hard for everyone.”

Dirks added a two-run homer in the eighth.

“It’s almost a little surreal at times when you’re scoring that many runs,” Dirks said. “At the same time, it’s just one game. It doesn’t matter if you win by two or you win by 20.”

NOTES: Guillen said before the game OF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) may not return any time soon. … Guillen went about halfway to second base in the second inning after Alex Rios was called out stealing, apparently ready to argue the call. Then he seemed to change his mind and went back to the dugout. … Both teams face quick turnarounds for day games Monday. Detroit is at Cleveland, and Chicago plays its doubleheader at Minnesota. The White Sox will send Philip Humber (8-8) and Zach Stewart (1-2) to the mound against Minnesota’s Anthony Swarzak (3-5) and Scott Diamond (1-2).

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Up 16-0 after six innings - the Detroit Tigers roll to an easy 18-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday night.

As heard on 97.1 The Ticket - the Tigers sweep the series from Chicago and leave the White Sox 8 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers finished a three-game sweep of Chicago in emphatic fashion Sunday.

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila had a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6 1/2 games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They’d scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

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DETROIT  — The Chicago White Sox know they are running out of time.

The White Sox came up against overwhelming AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander on Friday night and lost 8-1 to the first-place Detroit Tigers.

The loss drops Chicago into third place in the AL Central, 61/2 games behind Detroit. Chicago has five games remaining against the Tigers this season, including the final two of this series.

“We’re almost out of games,” said White Sox starter John Danks, who struggled badly on the mound. “We have to win a lot more than we lost from here on out. We’re going to have to win out against the Tigers, and we’re still going to need some help.”

The White Sox had won five of six, but didn’t score off Verlander until the eighth inning.

“They definitely had everything rolling tonight, and they had their big gun out there,” Chicago’s Juan Pierre said. “He pretty much went through us any way he wanted.”

Verlander (21-5) improved to 19-2 since May 1, allowing one run on seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out six in Jim Leyland’s 500th win as Tigers manager.

“I didn’t change my game plan when we were leading 3-0 early, but once it got to be 8-0, I started throwing first-pitch fastballs,” he said. “I figured if they were hacking, I could get some quick outs. It hurt me a little in the eighth, but you certainly can’t complain about a game like this.”

On a 95-degree day, Danks (6-10) never came close to matching Verlander, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings.

“Danks wasn’t around the plate, and he was facing a pretty good hitting club that is swinging the bats well,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

After Verlander needed just six pitches in the top of the first, Detroit staked him to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.

Jackson led off with a single, took second on Magglio Ordonez’s groundout and scored on Delmon Young’s triple. Young came home on Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single, and Cabrera then stunned the sold-out crowd of 42,352 by stealing second base.

That put him in position to score on Alex Avila’s single.

“That was all Miggy’s doing — don’t give me any credit for that one,” Leyland said. “He saw that Danks wasn’t paying attention and he got the base. That’s a huge play, because it gets us a run.”

Against Verlander, Guillen knew the game was almost over after one inning.

“When it is 3-0 in the first inning against that guy, you’ve got a pretty rough slope to climb,” he said.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth, with the White Sox only putting one runner in scoring position.

Brandon Inge led off Detroit’s fifth with a single, and scored on Jackson’s ninth homer of the season.

A single and two walks loaded the bases with two out, and Guillen pulled Danks in favor of Josh Kinney. The move didn’t pay off, as Peralta lined a bases-clearing double to give the Tigers their eight-run lead.

Tyler Flowers broke up Verlander’s shutout with a 425-foot homer on the first pitch of the eighth, and Chicago loaded the bases with one out before Joaquin Benoit came out of the bullpen. Paul Konerko flew out to left, and A.J. Pierzynski lined out to Cabrera at first.

NOTES: Tigers reliever Alberto Alburquerque is expected to throw an inning for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday before rejoining Detroit. Alburquerque has been sidelined with a concussion since being hit with a liner in batting practice on August 12. … Chicago’s Eduardo Escobar made his major-league debut, replacing Alexei Ramirez at shortstop in the seventh inning. Shane Lindsay, the first Australian to play for the White Sox, started his career by pitching the eighth. … Verlander has thrown at least six innings and 100 pitches in all 30 starts this season. … The teams play again Saturday afternoon, with Detroit’s Brad Penny (9-10) against Chicago’s Gavin Floyd (12-10).

The Chicago White Sox know they are running out of time.

The White Sox came up against overwhelming AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander on Friday night and lost 8-1 to the first-place Detroit Tigers.

The loss drops Chicago into third place in the AL Central, 6½ games behind Detroit. Chicago has five games remaining against the Tigers this season, including the final two of this series.

“We’re almost out of games,” said White Sox starter John Danks, who struggled badly on the mound. “We have to win a lot more than we lost from here on out. We’re going to have to win out against the Tigers, and we’re still going to need some help.”

The White Sox had won five of six, but didn’t score off Verlander until the eighth inning.

“They definitely had everything rolling tonight, and they had their big gun out there,” Chicago’s Juan Pierre said. “He pretty much went through us any way he wanted.”

Verlander (21-5) improved to 19-2 since May 1, allowing one run on seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out six in Jim Leyland’s 500th win as Tigers manager.

“I didn’t change my game plan when we were leading 3-0 early, but once it got to be 8-0, I started throwing first-pitch fastballs,” he said. “I figured if they were hacking, I could get some quick outs. It hurt me a little in the eighth, but you certainly can’t complain about a game like this.”

On a 95-degree day, Danks (6-10) never came close to matching Verlander, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings.

“Danks wasn’t around the plate, and he was facing a pretty good hitting club that is swinging the bats well,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

After Verlander needed just six pitches in the top of the first, Detroit staked him to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.

Jackson led off with a single, took second on Magglio Ordonez’s groundout and scored on Delmon Young’s triple. Young came home on Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single, and Cabrera then stunned the sold-out crowd of 42,352 by stealing second base.

That put him in position to score on Alex Avila’s single.

“That was all Miggy’s doing — don’t give me any credit for that one,” Leyland said. “He saw that Danks wasn’t paying attention and he got the base. That’s a huge play, because it gets us a run.”

Against Verlander, Guillen knew the game was almost over after one inning.

“When it is 3-0 in the first inning against that guy, you’ve got a pretty rough slope to climb,” he said.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth, with the White Sox only putting one runner in scoring position.

Brandon Inge led off Detroit’s fifth with a single, and scored on Jackson’s ninth homer of the season.

A single and two walks loaded the bases with two out, and Guillen pulled Danks in favor of Josh Kinney. The move didn’t pay off, as Peralta lined a bases-clearing double to give the Tigers their eight-run lead.

Tyler Flowers broke up Verlander’s shutout with a 425-foot homer on the first pitch of the eighth, and Chicago loaded the bases with one out before Joaquin Benoit came out of the bullpen. Paul Konerko flew out to left, and A.J. Pierzynski lined out to Cabrera at first.

NOTES: Tigers reliever Alberto Alburquerque is expected to throw an inning for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday before rejoining Detroit. Alburquerque has been sidelined with a concussion since being hit with a liner in batting practice on August 12. … Chicago’s Eduardo Escobar made his major-league debut, replacing Alexei Ramirez at shortstop in the seventh inning. Shane Lindsay, the first Australian to play for the White Sox, started his career by pitching the eighth. … Verlander has thrown at least six innings and 100 pitches in all 30 starts this season. … The teams play again Saturday afternoon, with Detroit’s Brad Penny (9-10) against Chicago’s Gavin Floyd (12-10).

Juan Pierre had three hits and two RBIs for the White Sox, who took three of four from the Orioles to complete a 6-1 road trip. Chicago is 58-59, but that’s good enough to be four games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

“Any other division we’re looking at offseason plans like fishing. But in this division were still in the middle of it,” Pierre said. “Without a doubt the best road trip we have had all year. Everything clicked all throughout the lineup.”

Pierre led off the first inning with a single and Ramirez hit Chris Tillman’s eighth pitch into the left-field seats. Paul Konerko doubled and scored on a double by Carlos Quentin, and A.J. Pierzynski followed with another double to make it 4-0 on the 16th offering by Tillman, who needed 32 pitches to retire the side.

That was enough support for Buehrle, who hadn’t given up more than three runs in a game since April 22.

“With Buehrle on the mound throwing the ball the way he has been the last few months, you feel comfortable,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Buehrle (10-5) gave up three runs and six hits, struck out six and walked none. The left-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in 18 straight starts, matching the club record set by Frank Smith in 1909, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Buehrle is 4-0 in his last five starts, and his run of 10-win seasons is a franchise record. In this one, the early cushion didn’t hurt.

“You still to go out there and pitch, but any time you get runs early in the game it helps out, especially before you take the mound,” Buehrle said. “The goal I always go for is to go deep in the game, have us score runs and have the bullpen protect your leads.”

Sergio Santos worked a perfect ninth for his 25th save. Santos set a major league record by starting the season with 25 straight scoreless appearances on the road, breaking the mark set by Mariano Rivera in 2005. He has a 30-game scoreless run on the road over two seasons.

Nick Markakis hit his 100th career home run for the Orioles, who have lost seven of nine. Tillman (3-5) didn’t get an out until his 20th pitch and ended up giving up six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings.

“You see Buehrle out there, and as soon as it goes 4- and 6-0, it just plays right into his hands,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He takes your aggressiveness and uses it against you. He has so many things to speed you up and slow you down. If you had to pick a guy to pitch when you get in that situation, he’s a blueprint.”

Tillman escaped damage in the second despite giving up a leadoff double to Pierre but couldn’t get out of the third. Adam Dunn walked and took third on a single by Brent Morel, who took an extra base when Markakis attempted to throw out Dunn at third. Pierre followed with a two-run single off the glove of first baseman Chris Davis for a 6-0 lead.

In the bottom half, Nolan Reimold doubled and scored on a single by J.J. Hardy before Markakis launched a shot over the right-field scoreboard.

After Baltimore put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth, Buehrle struck out Markakis. The Orioles had only one baserunner the rest of the way — Reimold, who beat out a grounder with two outs in the seventh.

NOTES: After the game Tillman was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. … Pierzynski finished with three hits and went 10 for 17 in the series to raise his batting average 15 points to .295. … The teams split the eight-game season series. … The White Sox head home to face the Kansas City Royals in a three-game series that begins Friday. Zach Stewart (1-1) will pitch for Chicago, the only AL team with a losing record at home (24-32) and a winning record (34-27) on the road. The White Sox have won eight of nine road games. … Baltimore begins a three-game set against Detroit on Friday night. Alfredo Simon will pitch for the Orioles, still in search of their first series win since June 24-26 against Cincinnati. … The Orioles have lost nine of their last 10 series finales. … It was the 20th anniversary of the no-hitter that Chicago’s Wilson Alvarez threw against the Orioles at Memorial Stadium.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Alejandro De Aza hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the season and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Wednesday.

De Aza, who was called up earlier in the day to fill a roster spot opened by a trade, connected against Scherzer (11-6) in the second, hitting an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right for his first major league homer.

“I didn’t throw it with 100 percent conviction, I don’t know why,” Scherzer said. “Because the next time I faced him, I threw with 100 percent conviction and I was able to execute like I wanted.

“I made one mistake and it cost me.”

Austin Jackson hit a leadoff homer in the seventh, but that was it for Detroit against John Danks (4-8) and two relievers.

The Tigers got plenty of runners aboard against Danks but couldn’t convert, registering just one hit in nine chances with runners in scoring position — a single that loaded the bases. Detroit left nine runners on base.

“With runners in scoring position, you want to come through for your team,” Jackson said. “Once (Danks) got runners in scoring position, he got really nasty.”

Danks (4-8), who left after Jackson’s fifth homer, matched a career high with 10 strikeouts while improving to 4-0 with a sparkling 0.98 ERA in his last six starts. The left-hander allowed six hits and walked three.

“Danks was tremendous. He had his cutter going, really nasty,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “Not that it was easy to get him, because it wasn’t, but the thing that frustrates you a little bit is when you have opportunity after opportunity. If you just take one or two hits in that game, you might have three or four runs.”

Chris Sale replaced Danks and worked 2 2-3 perfect innings before Sergio Santos got the last out for his 21st save in 24 chances.

Scherzer struck out eight in six innings, yielding six hits and four walks.

“I was able to battle through six innings and keep them from scoring again. I gave the team a chance to win, we just didn’t execute today,” he said. “It’s always frustrating when you can look at a start and narrow it down to one pitch.”

The White Sox closed within 3½ games of Detroit in the AL Central, a threshold Chicago has reached, but not surpassed, since mid-April. The Tigers fell to 23-13 against AL Central opponents, still the best intradivision record in the league.

Alexei Ramirez had a one-out walk ahead of De Aza’s homer in his 195th at-bat in the majors. The speedy center fielder had previous stints with the White Sox and Florida Marlins.

De Aza was called up from Triple-A Charlotte after the White Sox traded starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and utilityman Mark Teahen to the Toronto Blue Jays for reliever Jason Frasor and pitching prospect Zach Stewart.

“Right on time. In the right place in the right time,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of De Aza’s arrival. “We liked him in spring training. We didn’t have space for him on the 25-man roster, but I think he’s going to see some playing time. Hopefully, he can help us.”

“We needed to make a little bit of a dent in our payroll, which is stressed a little bit,” Williams said. “But we did not want to be making a move that would be counterproductive to the opportunity for us to win still.”

Chicago acquired the 27-year-old Jackson from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 30 last season. The right-hander is 7-7 this season with a 3.92 ERA in 19 starts for the White Sox, who were carrying six starters on their roster.

“At the end of the day, I’ve come to understand the game of baseball,” said Jackson, who is eligible for free agency after this season. “This is not my first time being traded. Any time I’ve been traded, there’s never been any hard feelings.”

Jackson has been dealt five times since being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a 17-year-old in 2001. Toronto will be his sixth organization.

“I was born on the move, being a military brat,” Jackson said. “My whole life is pick up and make new friends.”

Teahen was signed as a free agent before last season to be Chicago’s starting third baseman. The 29-year-old was derailed by injuries and ended up as bench player for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. He hit .203 in 51 games this season with three homers and 11 RBI.

“Mixed emotions for sure,” Teahen said. “Obviously, I’m disappointed in the way it all worked out here. I wanted it to go a lot different.”

Frasor is a native of the Chicago area. The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-1 with a 2.98 ERA for Toronto in a setup role.

“He’s one of the top quality relievers in baseball,” Williams said. “He will fit in.”

Stewart was a third-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. The 24-year-old started three games for the Blue Jays this season, going 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA. He was 5-5 with a 4.20 ERA for Double-A New Hampshire. Stewart will be assigned to Triple-A Charlotte.

“Zach Stewart has been on our radar for a long time, particularly last year when he was doing some special things in Double-A,” Williams said. “He will ultimately be in the mix in some way, shape or form. Most likely this year.”

To fill the open spot on the 25-man big-league roster, the White Sox recalled center fielder Alejandro De Aza from Charlotte and put him in the lineup for Wednesday’s afternoon game against the Detroit Tigers.

“The other part of doing what we did today, that allowed us to get De Aza in the lineup in center field,” Williams said. “That affords us to give Ozzie something more than honestly what (Alex) Rios is giving us. Rios is going to have to take a back seat now.”

The Rios has hit just .208 this season in 97 games despite a hefty long-term contract that will pay him $12 million this season and has two more years plus a club option remaining.

“Here’s what I told Ozzie: Do not worry about the size of the contract,” Williams said. “Just worry about putting the players (on the field) on a given day that can help you win.

“I’m sending a message to everyone.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.