Levine: It's Groundhog Day For The White Sox
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The groundhog's day syndrome continues to haunt the "hitless wonders" known as the White Sox. Offensively, it has gotten so bad that the team set a franchise record dating back 114 years for having four or fewer hits in four consecutive games. They seem to play the same game offensively every night, after adding on to their recent struggles in a 3-2 home loss to the Pirates on Thursday night.
Losing for the seventh straight time, the White Sox fell 11 games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals in the AL Central. Another well-pitched game was wasted. This time it was Jeff Samardzija who was the hard-luck starter, getting a no-decision.
"We have to be able to put up more (runs) than that," disgusted manager Robin Ventura said. "He had his spots where they didn't hit his stuff hard, but (they fell in). He pitched well. We couldn't get anything going offensively, even when we had a shot there with guys in scoring position. We didn't do anything with it. We obviously have to fix that and score more than a couple (of runs).
Samardzija gave up just two runs, both earned, in seven strong innings. He allowed 10 hits, but many of them were broken-bat or jammed shots, half-hit balls that found grass.
"Any time you waste a good start by someone, it's disappointing," Ventura said. "The last few days, we have had opportunities to win some games, but we can't mount anything on offense."
The losing streak hasn't torn the White Sox apart as much as it has left them puzzled and out of answers.
"As a family, when you aren't having fun, you do come together," center fielder Adam Eaton said. "We really do have to get going soon. It's no longer early. It is starting to be buckle-down time. We need to put together a good streak of games, sooner rather than later."
The White Sox have averaged 2.5 runs per game in their last 14 contests, losing 10 of those. They've scored the second-fewest runs in all of baseball.
The reality that some players could be shipped out of town soon has been on the mind of some players like Eaton through this bad string of losses.
"We know the trade deadline can sneak up on you," Eaton said. "If we aren't playing the game we need to be playing, our friends are going to start leaving soon. We have a good club that has to start pushing the right buttons. We need to play a better brand of baseball."
Samardzija was realistic about the 11-game hole the White Sox find themselves in 66 games into the season.
"In our division, you can't lose too many games," he said. "It is a very thick division. It is deep from top to bottom. We cannot let that space get too big. We need to do our jobs, win some ballgames and see if we can turn this around quickly."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.