The numbers tell the story for Clayton Richard after Thursday's start.

Richard's one inning of work was the shortest outing for a White Sox starter since Jose Contreras went one inning on April 2, 2007, and he has not made it past the fourth inning in four of his past 12 starts. Over his last five, Richard has a 1-2 record with a 10.80 ERA.

So the obvious question for manager Ozzie Guillen was, how much longer could they go with the left-hander in the rotation?

"It's up to him," Guillen said. "We did it with a couple of guys, and they did grab it. We'll see what happens next start, if we're going to give him another start."

What's good for Guillen is he will now have time to make that decision, thanks to the All-Star break. Thursday's start was Richard's last before the break. He also was going on three days' rest, but that was not being used as an excuse for a terrible outing in which Richard allowed six runs and four hits and walked three.

Richard is scheduled to pitch the third game of the second half July 19 against Baltimore, followed by John Danks and Gavin Floyd against Tampa Bay.

Even if Richard remains in the rotation for the start of the second half, the Sox will need another starter for their July 24 doubleheader at Detroit. Bartolo Colon likely will be that starter and could then replace Richard permanently if he's healthy and performs well.

Guillen said Richard would be available in relief at Minnesota this weekend.

"It couldn't hurt," Richard said of pitching out of the bullpen. "I've been struggling, and I need to get my feet back under me. Getting ahead of hitters is the big thing, throwing strikes."

INDIANS 10, WHITE SOX 8: Manager Ozzie Guillen praised the fight his team displayed, down 9-2 at one point, but it still didn't help with the final score, as the Sox wasted an opportunity to sweep last-place Cleveland and keep up with Detroit in the AL Central race. Chicago did cut it to two runs but never got closer.

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