Despite both teams owning losing records, there was plenty of intrigue to open the series between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

After the White Sox won the opener despite losing their best hitter, they’ll try to continue their recent success against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday night.

While these teams are off to slow starts, there was no shortage of storylines following the White Sox’s 3-2 win Friday.

Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Gordon Beckham hit a tiebreaking solo shot in the eighth to lead the White Sox to their sixth win in nine games at Wrigley Field.

Beforehand, it was learned Kerry Wood intended to announce his retirement, ending a career that began with much promise but never helped bring that elusive World Series title to the Cubs.

Wood was 0-2 with two blown saves and an 8.64 ERA before striking out Dayan Viciedo in the eighth in his final appearance.

“It was time,” Wood, who left to a standing ovation, said. “We saw how things were going this year. I wasn’t able to bounce back and do my job.”

Wood wasn’t the only big story after Konerko was sent sprawling in the third inning when he was hit by a pitch by Jeff Samardzija. Konerko suffered a laceration above his left eye and some swelling, and his status for Saturday is uncertain.

“The ball got away and unfortunately it hit him up high,” Samardzija said after the Cubs (15-24) lost their fourth straight. “If I could take it back I would. He’s a tough guy. I hope he’ll be alright.”

White Sox starter Phil Humber denied retaliation after he threw behind Bryan LaHair in the fourth. Both benches were issued warnings.

Konerko came into the game batting .362, third-best in the AL. His homer was his 55th in interleague play, tying him with Ken Griffey Jr. for second place all-time.

Possibly without Konerko, the White Sox (19-21) will go for a third straight victory Saturday, but they could have trouble against Ryan Dempster (0-1, 1.74 ERA).

Dempster had a 1.02 ERA over his first five starts, which the Cubs were winless in. He pitched in a winning effort against St. Louis on Monday after allowing a season-high four runs in six innings of a 6-4 victory.

Dempster is 2-3 with a 5.09 ERA in six starts against the White Sox but has a 1.71 ERA in three starts against them at Wrigley Field.

Alexei Ramirez is 6 for 14 with a home run against Dempster while Adam Dunn has two homers in 17 at-bats.

The White Sox will counter with John Danks (2-4, 6.46), who struggled again Monday at Detroit, failing to record an out in the fourth inning of a 7-5 win.

Danks allowed five runs and nine hits, and it was the third time in four starts he gave up five or more runs.

The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in four starts against the Cubs, although the last time he faced them he allowed six runs in five innings of an 8-6 loss in 2010.

There is a different feel in the Chicago White Sox’s clubhouse this year. The usual scenes — such as players swapping stories, playing cards, and telling jokes — still take place. But the atmosphere has changed.

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Spring Training: Diamondbacks | Cactus League | Fans

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It’s not necessarily looser. It’s not even noticeably more businesslike. It’s just, well, different.

Perhaps it’s because baseball teams more often than not tend to take on the personalities of their manager. And after just a couple weeks in spring training, never has that seemed so evident.

These are not the Ozzie Guillen-led White Sox any longer. That act was good enough to help produce a World Series championship in 2005, but that act also got old.

Guillen could sense it too, which is why he left Chicago to become the manager of the new-look Miami Marlins.

His successor is the anti-Ozzie, a calmer, more-cerebral sort. He is a stickler for detail, a man who demands his players give their all, and a first-time manager who will get plenty of on-the-job training in 2012.

But is Robin Ventura the right choice for the White Sox?

“I think he’s going to be great,” said Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett, the Royals’ vice president of baseball operations. “Robin played the game the right way, and he’s going to take the same approach as a manager, I’m sure of it.”

Ventura has no previous coaching or managing experience, but his style and demeanor already have taken root at Chicago’s spring home, Camelback Ranch.

When he addressed the full roster for the first time, Ventura bluntly told his players what he expects — a hard, honest effort all the time.

“Right now we’re going through drills,” he recently said. “I want them having fun, but I want them taking it serious and realizing we don’t put it on the schedule just to kind of go through the motions and just to have it there.

“I want it done right, or we’re going to stay out until we do it right.”

Ventura, 44, acknowledged he could sense some apprehension.

“There was a little bit of grumbling,” he said, “but that’s the way it is. And that’s the way it’s going to be.”

In some ways, the 2012 White Sox under Ventura resemble the 2011 Diamondbacks under Kirk Gibson. Like Arizona a year ago, Chicago seems to have a back-to-basics approach and a new desire to get its uniforms dirty again.

It’s a philosophy that veteran Paul Konerko intimated the White Sox had lost the past couple years. Even Brett, from his view with the division-rival Royals, could see it.

“It didn’t look like a circus, it just looked odd,” Brett said of the White Sox. “There was something going on. But I’ve talked to guys, and it’s a better-run camp over there. The coaching staff is great. Everybody gets along with the players. Everybody’s on the same page. There’s a little bit more discipline, I hear, too.”

When Ventura was hired in October, it was a shocker. Most thought General Manager Kenny Williams would bring in a more-experienced skipper along the lines of a Terry Francona or perhaps even Tony La Russa.

Williams, though, identified Ventura — who spent the first 10 years of his 16-year, major-league career with the White Sox — as the leading candidate from the start.

“I wanted someone who met very specific criteria centered around his leadership abilities. Robin Ventura was that man,” Williams said.

“His baseball knowledge and expertise, his professionalism, his familiarity with the White Sox and Chicago and his outstanding character make him absolutely the right person to lead our clubhouse and this organization into the season ahead.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Paul Konerko figures the Chicago White Sox can be successful this season, even if they fall short of the playoffs.

Before the White Sox’s first full-squad workout of spring training Tuesday, Konerko said he wasn’t conceding the season. But he noted that the White Sox have several young players and a new staff led by first-time manager Robin Ventura.

“Cleveland last year, not that they won the division, but all in all I think it was a very successful season.” said Konerko, who is entering his 16th major league season and will turn 36 next Monday. “But this year this (White Sox) team is different from a lot of teams we had recently. I hope I don’t throw anybody off with this — this can be a very successful year without making the playoffs.”

Konerko tempered his comments by saying the Sox could compete, and there’s “a fine line” between first-place division teams and those that finish second and third. If young players such as third baseman Brent Morel, second baseman Gordon Beckham and reliever Addison Reed produce good seasons, that can be a success, Konerko said.

“Those are all good signs it’s moving in the right direction,” said Konerko, who was a candidate for player-manager before the White Sox hired Ventura last October.

The White Sox finished 79-83 and third in the AL Central last season, missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Manager Ozzie Guillen and ace Mark Buehrle headed to the Miami Marlins, and the White Sox were left to rebuild.

Ventura said he understood Konerko’s perspective.

“If we play well and play good team baseball, it can be (a success), but we’re obviously looking for more than just that,” Ventura said.

Off-the-field issues distracted the team last season, Konerko said. After managing the team for eight seasons, a stint that included a World Series championship, Guillen was let go in September before the end of the season.

“There were definitely some times late in the year last year there were probably games and days given away because of people worrying about things that were not related to the game of baseball,” Konerko said. “(This year) I don’t see that being an issue. I have a good feeling no matter what happens, whatever our record winds up being, you can look at that record and say, ‘That’s what this team did.’”

Konerko is one of the team’s few remaining veterans. He acknowledged the absence of Buehrle, who spent all 12 of his major-league seasons with the Sox.

“Not seeing Mark’s locker, I don’t know what to say other than it’s not right,” Konerko said.

Konerko said he believes that teammates who struggled last season – including Beckham, Alex Rios and Adam Dunn, who batted .159 last season – can bounce back. He especially sees promise in the 25-year-old Beckham.

“Knowing where he’s at in his head, I think it’s a good place,” he said. “I think he’s going to have a big year.”

Last season, Konerko produced his fifth All-Star season. He hit .300 with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs. He and catcher A.J. Pierzynski are the last remaining members of the 2005 World Series team.

“I’m happy I won a World Series, and I’ll always have that in my pocket. I’d love to get another one, but if I don’t, that’s cool too,” Konerko said. “I look at it this stage in my career, if it means I have to play two or three years, whatever it is, so I can hopefully leave here and help people and try to get this organization back on track, and I leave and those guys do the job, then that’s fine. I think that’s what I owe the team.”

Notes: In his first address to the whole team, Ventura said he emphasized having fun but also taking camp seriously. “We’re here to win games, but it’s important for me and the staff they show up every day and give good effort,” he said.