Jose Contreras might have used up his last chance as a White Sox starter Friday night.
About three hours after manager Ozzie Guillen characterized his upcoming start as “huge,” Contreras turned in one of his most disappointing outings of the season.
Contreras blew all of a six-run lead that he had been staked to after two innings.
Fortunately for Contreras and the Sox, Alexei Ramirez hit a tiebreaking home run on an 0-2 pitch off left-hander Craig Breslow in the 10th inning for an 8-7 victory.
Asked if he’ll keep Contreras in the rotation, Guillen said: “I don’t have any choice. As long as he’s here, we’ve got to keep sending him out there. Our options aren’t much.
“Maybe [Saturday], we change our minds. But right now, we’ve got to keep running him out there, hopefully for the best.”
Four Sox relievers limited Oakland to three hits over the final 5 2/3 innings, but closer Bobby Jenks needed to induce Nomar Garciaparra to ground out with the tying and winning runs on base to preserve the victory and earn his 24th save.
Despite Contreras’ struggles on an Oakland Coliseum field chewed up and discolored by an NFL exhibition game Thursday night, the Sox (59-57) remained 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Tigers in the American League Central. Their record at the Oakland Coliseum since 2001 is now 9-28.
Contreras failed to pitch six innings for the fourth consecutive time and again put a strain on a pitching staff that likely won’t have the services of 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy for at least two more weeks.
Contreras got off the hook when the Sox tied the game in the sixth. Nevertheless, he’s 0-4 with a 6.72 ERA in his last six starts.
“Those six runs are my runs, and they’re my runners,” Contreras said. “Whatever they tell me to do anywhere, I’ll do it.”
The Sox will need a fifth starter Tuesday, one day before Contreras’ next scheduled start. With D.J. Carrasco too valuable in his current role as a long reliever — as evidenced by his 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Contreras — the Sox could opt for Freddy Garcia to start against Kansas City on Tuesday and on March 23 against Baltimore.
But if the Sox don’t deem Contreras worthy of another start Wednesday, they could opt for Daniel Hudson, who improved to 13-5 at four levels by pitching seven innings of three-hit ball in Triple-A Charlotte’s 3-1 victory over Norfolk.
Contreras’ fortunes started to unravel with one out in the fourth when Scott Hairston hit a home run.
But Contreras also was betrayed by his defense. Carlos Quentin nearly ran into center fielder Alex Rios and dropped a fly ball, and second baseman Jayson Nix muffed Jack Cust’s slow roller for what was ruled an infield hit during a five-run fourth.
Contreras was pulled after allowing a game-tying RBI single to Hairston with one out in the fifth.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
