CHICAGO – White Sox manager Robin Ventura rarely, if ever, discusses future opponents.

So focused on each individual game, Ventura has perfected the art of dodging those topics, following his season-long philosophy. But even Ventura couldn’t avoid the playoff implications of the Sox’s four-game series that begins tonight against the Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field.

“Everybody gets that; you just guard against thinking it’s the end of the season,” Ventura said. “There’s nothing further from the truth. We realize they’re important and everything else, but there’s been teams that think the big series is just the one with them and they forget to play. There’s still going to be close to 20 games left after that. And that could slip pretty quickly if you let your guard down.”