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TORONTO (AP) -This has been one rough stretch of games for the
Chicago White Sox
.
Vernon Wells
drove in three runs,
Marco Scutaro
homered and the
Toronto Blue Jays
beat the
White Sox
5-2 on Saturday, handing Chicago its season-high fourth straight loss.
Chicago (14-14), which has dropped seven of 10 overall, dropped into a tie with Minnesota atop the American League Central.
The Twins host Detroit later Saturday night.
''It's frustrating,''
White Sox
manager
Ozzie Guillen
said. ''All of a sudden, in one week, we forgot how to hit, how to catch the ball, how to run the bases, how to pitch. That
happened quick.''
A
Joe Crede
error led to three unearned runs and Chicago's struggling offense sputtered against right-hander
Jesse Litsch
, putting just one runner in scoring position.
''We're not terrible right now, we're just good enough to lose,'' first baseman
Paul Konerko
said. ''We're just not clicking.''
The
White Sox
have scored only six runs in their past four games and, at .235, have the lowest team batting average in the AL.
''As a coaching staff, we will take the blame,'' Guillen said. ''Meanwhile, we have to continue to work and believe in those
guys and hope and have faith that they can get out of this fiasco.''
Litsch (4-1) gave up two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings for Toronto, which has won three straight after losing eight
of nine. Wells went 3-for-5 with three singles.
Toronto's staff has an ERA of 1.32 in the past seven games, and no pitcher wants to be the one who slips up.
''You see a guy go out there and throw seven scoreless and it makes you want to go out there and do the same thing,'' Litsch
said.
With Toronto's offense finally showing signs of life, Litsch expects the
Blue Jays
(14-17) to soon climb out of the cellar in the AL East.
''People are going to have to watch out for us,'' Litsch said. ''We started out slow in the month of April, but that happens.
It's how you finish, really.''
Litsch was perfect through four, but Konerko singled off the glove of second baseman
Aaron Hill
to begin the fifth. Litsch, who has won back-to-back starts, struck out three and walked none.
Scott Downs
got two outs in the eighth and B.J. Ryan worked the ninth for his fourth save.
Konerko returned after missing two games with a sore thumb, but the
White Sox
still struggled at the plate. Their only runs came on homers by
Jermaine Dye
and
Carlos Quentin
.
Dye ended an 0-for-15 skid with a drive in the seventh, snapping a streak of 24 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings by
Blue Jays
pitchers. Toronto had not given up a run since the ninth inning of Wednesday's 2-1 loss at Boston. Quentin went deep in the
eighth, his eighth.
Konerko, who went 2-for-4 with two singles, said his hand was still a little sore.
''A couple of balls tested it a bit,'' Konerko said. ''It was manageable. You still feel it but it wasn't stopping me from
doing what I wanted to do.''
David Eckstein
doubled and scored on a two-out single by Wells in the first, and Scutaro hit a solo homer off
John Danks
(2-3) in the third, his first.
Toronto broke it open in the sixth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Hill hit a bouncer down the third-base line. Crede
tried to make the force at third but bobbled the ball, allowing
Rod Barajas
to score. Wells followed with a two-run single to center.
Crede was the only Chicago player to get into scoring position, leading off the sixth with a double that hit the top of the
center-field wall and bounced back into play.
Pablo Ozuna
sacrificed Crede to third, but
Nick Swisher
lined out to first and
Orlando Cabrera
grounded out.
''The ball is just not bouncing our way,'' Guillen said.
Danks gave up two runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
''I didn't have command of anything,'' Danks said. ''I threw too many pitches and, if that happens, the defense gets flat-footed.''
Notes: Danks walked
Matt Stairs
in the fifth, snapping a streak of 88 batters faced without a base on balls. ...
Blue Jays
3B
Scott Rolen
got the day off, his first since being activated from the disabled list April 25. ... Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin
took batting practice before the game.
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