The inability of the White Sox’s starting pitchers to work deep into games necessitated Monday’s trade for reliever Mike MacDougal, who can shorten their workloads.
But that didn’t cure Javier Vazquez’s persistent middle-inning woes, which recurred Monday night in a 7-4 loss to Minnesota that further wounded the Sox’s status in the American League Central and may accelerate general manager Ken Williams’ pursuit of help.
The Sox fell 7 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central and lead Minnesota by only two games. As a result of their 2-8 record since the All-Star break, the Sox lead the Yankees by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race.
For the second time in as many starts, Vazquez’s five scoreless innings quickly evaporated. He was hindered again by his failure to retire hitters the third time through the order.
That might cause manager Ozzie Guillen to pull Vazquez after five innings, as opponents are batting .382 off him after the second trip through.
“He’s throwing the ball so good to get out of the rotation,” Guillen said. “We have to be aware next outing how many innings he can go out there and perform. If I see next outing we get a strong five, I have to think about getting him out of there with a good thought, make him get that confidence back and make him believe in himself that he can go five innings.”
The addition of MacDougal from Kansas City could lessen the stress on the bullpen and make it possible for the Sox to get four innings out of their relievers in Vazquez’s starts, provided Jon Garland can pitch deep into games.
Left-hander Neal Cotts was warming up in the sixth, but Guillen stood by Vazquez.
“Sometimes you wonder what it is,” Guillen said of Vazquez, who hasn’t pitched more than six innings in his last eight starts.
Vazquez remained baffled by his sixth-inning blues.
“If I’m going out there with nothing, I’ll be the first to say, `Wow, I got nothing,'” he said. “But I’m feeling good. And that’s why I’m so frustrated.”
Vazquez’s problems resurfaced when Nick Punto led off the sixth with a single and scored on Michael Cuddyer’s two-run, 416-foot homer over the left-field fence.
Three pitches later, Justin Morneau hit a tie-breaking shot over the right-field fence.
Vazquez was pulled after surrendering a single to Jason Tyner and a double to Jason Bartlett to start the seventh. Joe Mauer put the game out of reach with a three-run shot off Cotts.
“Every team goes through two bad streaks a year, and this is our second one,” said first baseman Paul Konerko, who hit his 25th homer in the fourth. “Once we get through it and get on our way, we’ll be fine. But at the same time, everyone is catching up and gaining ground on you. There are still two full months to go. We’ve got to keep it in perspective that it can turn around as quickly as it came.”
The Sox scored three runs or fewer for the sixth time since the All-Star break. They also failed to put a runner in scoring position after the fifth.
It’s a disturbing trend for a team that batted .316 with runners in scoring position in the first half. The Sox are hitting .176 in those situations in their last 10 games.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
