"Paul Konerko's newest fan is White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn, who has watched the first basemen tear through the first

2?1/2 months of the season with MVP-type numbers.

"I can't believe more people don't talk about him," Dunn said. "I'm slapping myself in the face because I didn't really know that much about him, either. It's a shame more people don't know about him because I've seen Albert [Pujols], I've seen some pretty good hitters, and I'm telling you I'd put him right up there with anybody."

Konerko's two-run home run in the first inning Monday against the Cubs was his fourth long ball in four games, and it gave him a club-record 12 seasons of 20 or more. He went into the game batting .327, and the homer raised his RBI total to 58.

"I've never seen a guy that makes adjustments pitch by pitch like that," Dunn said. "When he says he's going to look for one certain pitch and he gets it, he doesn't miss it. That's hard to do, man. It's special."

Bench it like Beckham

Second baseman Gordon Beckham, who was hitless in his last 12 at-bats and has only two hits in his last six games, was benched for a second consecutive day in favor of Omar Vizquel.

Manager Ozzie Guillen gave Dunn and Alex Rios back-to-back "mental health" days off when they were fighting slumps. "