Manager Ozzie Guillen vows to stay positive during the current White Sox slump.
But there are few developments that are keeping him upbeat among a gale of problems that swirled around U.S. Cellular Field.
Despite an exceptional pitching performance from Jose Contreras, Guillen and the Sox had little else to enjoy Thursday night in an 10-3 loss to the New York Yankees.
The Sox were within striking distance until Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam in the ninth off Ryan Bukvich, the fifth Sox pitcher. Rodriguez’s homer was his major-league-leading 22nd this season and the 15th slam of his career.
Guillen admitted it’s tough for him and his players to stay positive when the scoreboard numbers — particularly the batting averages — aren’t attractive.
But the bullpen’s woes resurfaced as four Sox relievers allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Frustration also set in after A.J. Pierzynski struck out against formidable closer Mariano Rivera to end the eighth. Pierzynski slammed his bat and had a few words for home plate umpire Bob Davidson before getting ejected and throwing his helmet in the direction of Davidson.
Pierzynski was upset over a called first strike with pinch-runner Andy Gonzalez representing the tying run at first. The ejection was Pierzynski’s first of the season and his third since joining the Sox in 2005.
The Sox now have scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last eight games. That has given the pitching staff no margin for error, although reliever Matt Thornton surrendered a two-run double to Bobby Abreu that snapped a 1-1 tie in the eighth.
The Sox (26-30) re-enter interleague play Friday night against Houston after dropping three consecutive games and 10 of their last 12. They are a season-high nine games behind Cleveland in the American League Central.
If there is any hope this weekend, it comes from the fact the Sox won’t face Houston’s formidable Roy Oswalt.
But the Sox fell to 2-6 in this 37-game stretch in which they will play only three games against a team with a winning record (Philadelphia).
There was a temporary gust of relief when the Sox’s snapped Mike Mussina’s shutout bid in the seventh and tied the game.
Jim Thome legged out an infield grounder to second and moved to third on Paul Konerko’s line-drive single off the left-field wall.
Yankees manager Joe Torre pulled Mussina in favor of left-handed submarine-style reliever Mike Myers.
But Pierzynski foiled the strategy by pulling a single into right field to tie the game 1-1 and elicit an ovation from several Sox fans.
But the rally bogged down against reliever Scott Proctor. Rookie third baseman Josh Fields failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt and eventually struck out. Rob Mackowiak launched a deep drive that Melky Cabrera caught in front of the fence, and Alex Cintron grounded out to second.
That fueled some boos, which turned to frustration after the Yankees solved Contreras and Thornton in the eighth.
Contreras issued his only walk to pinch-hitter Derek Jeter, who was given a brief break by Yankees manager Joe Torre to rest his left ankle and right shoulder.
Contreras compounded his trouble by hurling his first wild pitch of the season, and Jeter moved to third on Cabrera’s infield hit.
Abreu’s double snapped the tie, and the Yankees added another run on a force play.
The third run proved valuable because the Sox scored twice on Tadahito Iguchi’s double and Konerko’s infield single.
Before the eighth, Contreras had limited the Yankees to three hits. Two of those came to Abreu and Alex Rodriguez to start the fourth, with Abreu scoring on Hideki Matsui’s fielder’s choice.
Contreras hasn’t allowed a home run to his past 207 batters.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
