"At some point, a decision will have to be made -- maybe the toughest decision the duo of general manager Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen have had to make since making the White Sox relevant again.

And while Sunday's 4-1 victory over Cincinnati plays into the decision-making process -- every win does -- it inevitably will come down to one thing: ''Your heart and your gut feeling will tell you exactly what kind of ballclub you have,'' Guillen said.

That's all well and good, but even after taking two of three from the Reds at Great American Ball Park, Guillen admittedly still isn't sure what kind of club he's putting out there each day.

''I wish me and Kenny and the coaching staff saw a more consistent ballclub,'' Guillen said. ''That's what we want.

''I don't think Kenny is going to throw the towel in right away knowing the division this year is not playing like it used to be played. But in the meanwhile, you lose a couple of games, [first-place] Detroit wins a couple of games, that's going from five to seven or eight [games back], the difference is not that short because we don't have that many games with them.

''Hopefully, we continue to be in the pennant race and fight with them. Right now, it's unpredictable for me to say we should go a different way or what I should talk to Kenny about. We've got to be patient and see how far this thing can go.''

Guillen said that because the Central Division has kept his up-and-down team afloat, it likely will be an 11th-hour decision made just before the July 31 trade deadline. That's when they either will push all the chips in and go for it, or fold and possibly start shipping out Jermaine Dye, Jose Contreras, Octavio Dotel and even Bobby Jenks."