TUCSON, Ariz. -- Don't expect A.J. Pierzynski to apologize for having a desire to play as many games as possible. It's the ultimate target brought about by the intense manner in which he prepares himself for every season.

But don't interpret Pierzynski's ongoing questions as to how his role will change with the addition of Toby Hall as a sign of him starting to make waves in Spring Training for the upcoming 2007 season. Call it more concern for the unknown on the part of the White Sox starting catcher.

"When have I ever made waves? I don't get it," said Pierzynski, prior to three hitless at-bats over five innings during Colorado's 12-4 victory in Wednesday's Cactus League opener at Tucson Electric Park. "I've never complained about playing time or anything like that. You want the best for your team and yourself, obviously.

"I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen, that's the biggest thing. Look at me. I want to play every day. That's the way I go about my business; but then again, nobody really wants to sit the bench."

Pierzynski, who turned 30 just two days before the new year began, caught 1,125 innings and 132 games in 2006 and ranks fifth among Major League catchers with 747 games behind the plate since 2001. The left-handed-hitting Pierzynski set a single-season franchise record with 150 hits by a catcher last year, including a .270 average against southpaws (38-for-141).

Hall's addition through a two-year deal with an option for 2009 looked a bit like a platoon situation in its infant stages when it was announced. After all, the right-handed-hitting Hall was a starter with Tampa Bay for four years and features a .274 career average against left-handers.

A quick look at the American League Central shows a predominance of All-Star southpaws, from the pinnacle of greatness that is Minnesota's Johan Santana to Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia to Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson in Detroit. As early as the first week of January, Pierzynski told MLB.com that he was worried about losing at-bats in this new catching configuration.

He quickly followed that concern, though, with the focus of doing whatever is best for the team. Pierzynski holds the same team-first opinion presently, as he puts in extra time along with Hall to learn about the new pitchers. But a part of Pierzynski clearly doesn't want to lose any part of the starting job he worked so hard to maintain.

"From what [manager] Ozzie [Guillen] and [general manager] Kenny [Williams] and others have said, I'm still going to play most of the games, but we will see what happens," said Pierzynski, reiterating Guillen's assertion a catching platoon has not been put in place. "I still plan on starting 130 or playing 140, whatever it takes. I have to approach it that way.

"People keep asking me that question, but I don't know how it's going to work out. If Toby can help us win games and get us in the playoffs, I'm all for it."

Off the mark: The No. 2 and No. 3 starters in the White Sox regular-season rotation combined to allow 10 earned runs on 14 hits over four innings during Wednesday's 12-4 loss to the Rockies. But neither Mark Buehrle nor Jon Garland seemed overly concerned about the results from one spring game.

"I hate giving up runs. I like to go out and compete," said Garland, who yielded six runs on eight hits in two innings, including Matt Holladay's home run. "But at the same time, I'm trying to go out there and get my work in, get my pitches, locate, work on mechanics and all that good stuff."

"You always want to throw up zeroes," Buehrle added. "If I was missing my spots and they were getting hits and other stuff was going on, it would be more frustrating."

Garland mentioned that his sinker consistently was up and the combination of dry Arizona air and 55-degree weather made the ball tough to grip. Buehrle gave up three hits on first pitches and admitted he will need to focus on higher-quality offerings early in the count with the opposition sitting on a pitcher consistently around the strike zone.

One rough trip to the mound, though, did not exactly dent their collective confidence.

"If they keep putting up runs on me, toward the end of Spring Training, I would want to throw up some zeroes," Buehrle said. "But I was hitting my spots and the velocity was there. That's all you can look for right now."

"It's February," Garland added. "You can't win a game until April."

Opening analysis: Guillen liked what he saw from Buehrle, despite the results, adding that "if Buehrle hits the glove during the season, he's going to have a good year." The White Sox manager explained how Garland primarily threw fastballs and wasn't really attacking the strike zone, but was especially pleased by the three stolen bases picked up by Darin Erstad, Juan Uribe and non-roster invitee Kenny Perez against Javier Lopez and the Rockies' hurlers.

"That's one of the things we're going to push real hard during Spring Training," Guillen said. "We want to be aggressive on the bags, even if we steal the bag down six or seven runs.

"It might have been the only highlight of the game," added Guillen with a laugh.

Around the horn: Gavin Floyd remains on schedule to pitch Friday against Arizona after spraining his ankle in a mound slip Monday. But Guillen said the Sox would rather rest Floyd a couple of extra days than push him out early and into a bad outing. ... Paul Konerko was hit by an Aaron Cook pitch in the left arm in the first inning but stayed in the game and reported no issues. ... The White Sox and Rockies combined for 13 doubles and 15 extra-base hits Wednesday. ... Garland, one of the AL's top defensive pitchers, committed a rare throwing error on a fourth-inning pickoff attempt of Brad Hawpe at first. ... Joe Crede, who had two hits Wednesday, is the lone starting position player making the trip to Hi Corbett Field for Thursday's split-squad action against Colorado. Josh Fields will get the starting call at third at Tucson Electric Park.

Up next: Javier Vazquez takes the mound Thursday against Arizona and Brandon Webb in the 2:05 p.m. CT start at Tucson Electric. Southpaw Heath Phillips starts against the Rockies in one of just two split-squad games this spring.