I would say that Mark Buehrle and the White Sox just got unlucky on Monday night, but the truth is they had nearly as many cheap hits and extra outs as the Angels but couldn't avoid the rally-killing double plays. In fact, I would argue that double plays --the Sox hit into 4 to the Angels 0-- were the entire difference in the game.

The Sox took an early 3-0 lead in the second after the Angels were unable to turn a double play on Joe Crede, who was somehow credited with a hit on what would prove to be the first of about 4 different questionable scoring decisions. While there are 2 errors listed in the box score --the Anaheim official scorer apparently only hands out errors if the ball leaves the field of play-- I can think of at least 4 more shoulda-been-an-errors off the top of my head. Juan Uribe had two, both of which looked like easy double plays, and Orlando Cabrera added another.

Buehrle didn't get hit hard. Only the Vladamir Guerrero homer, which followed one of Uribe's botched DPs, was really tagged, but poor defense, a number of weak hits, and the aforementioned bizarre scoring makes it look like a terrible outing in the box score. As I mentioned in the gamethread, Buehrle entered the night with the 3rd worst DER (balls in play converted into outs) of any American league pitcher at .652. By my calculations, that defensive efficiency dropped to .636, which would put him within an eyelash of the worst mark in the league. To quote Hawk, he's wearin' it.

In what was a microcosm of the game, the Sox allowed what proved to be the winning runs in a bizarre 6th inning. Buehrle had just come off a rough 5th that saw him give up the Vlad HR after the shoulda-been DP, and a 2-out Garret Anderson RBI triple --Swisher needs to stop coating his throwing hand in non-stick cooking spray between innings-- one batter after Robb Quinlan hit a Baltimore chop infield single. Buehrle struck out the first two batters of the 6th and induced a soft ground ball to third base that a charging Joe Crede threw away. The next 5 batters would reach base, plating 4 runs after what should have been the 3rd out.

Here's how it went down: Buehrle gave up a double before Ehren Wasserman --Did I mention I was worried about Wassermann?-- gave up a rope and nubber, followed by a couple of solid hits off Boone Logan before they could finally record the final out, a strikeout. They struck out the side, but an error, an unfortunate bounce, and some generally poor relief work finally sunk the Sox hopes.

The Sox are just finding ways to lose right now. There was blame to be thrown around to every part of the team once again Monday. So as they sit in third place a game below .500 it's time to ask; unlucky or just plain bad?

This one had all the makings of the White Sox first 3-game losing streak of the season. Gavin Floyd had a third inning that evoked images of Javy's second inning earlier this week. He didn't seem to want anything to do with the strike zone, and would stake the Yankees to an early 3-0 lead. And then the rains came.

Thank god they came. For the series the White Sox seemed unable to push runs across against the Yankees starter, or the two aces at the end of the Yankees pen. But the rain knocked Yanks starter Phil Hughes out of the game, and gave the Sox offense a crack at the ass end of their bullpen.

Sure enough, the Sox rolled up another big inning, 5 runs in the 4th off Ross Ohlendorf (pronounced Nick Masset). It would have been 6 if not for a would-be Alexei Ramirez triple finding the right field seats resulting in a ground rule double and Carlos Quentin on 3rd base. The Gentleman Masher later added a Walloped Tater to finish the Sox scoring against the spare parts of the Yankee pen.

Floyd would take his lead and generally pitch well. But much like Javy on Wednesday, the Yankees mounted a lightning quick 2-out rally to cut the lead to one and make it a battle of the bullpens for the remaining 3 innings.

You can tell that Ozzie is still trying to get used to his new bullpen. I've yet to criticize Ozzie's bullpen usage this season in part for the same reason.

• Bobby Jenks is the closer
• Boone Logan is the top lefty
• Scott Linebrink is the top set-up man

All other roles are up for grabs, and any move to call on the remaining 4 members can be called into question in a tight game. With the Yankees running out a predominantly left-handed lineup, Ozzie tried to steal an inning with Matt Thornton, but a 2-out single and a walk forced Ozzie to call on Linebrink with the right-handed Morgan Ensberg due up. You know how that worked out.

Ozzie then tried to get multiple innings out of Logan, in part because he breezed through his first inning of work and, as is becoming quite redundant, because the Yankees lineup is littered with lefties. But when Logan had trouble getting his second out in the 9th, Ozzie made the call for the big man, a move we've begged for constantly on this blog. Even DJ tried to convince Hawk why it's in the Sox best interest to have their best reliever on the mound in the highest leverage situation. He didn't put it like that, but at least he's trying.

Jenks coaxed a double play out of Jorge Posada, and looked like he would be available to go in the 10th. The two resident ManCrushes of this site had other ideas.

With one out and Joba Chamberlain locked on cruise control, Quentin, who was in the midst of a terrible night at the plate, battled to get a bit a hanger, which he was able to rope for a double off the left field wall. Four pitches later, Joe Crede, who you might have heard is clutch, buckled his knees and poked a flat 1-2 slider into center field for the game winning single.

I don't want to overstate the importance of a single game, but if that game ends in a loss the last week plus would have had a very 2007-like feel to it. Avoiding the sweep, putting up a fight even when the bullpen blows a lead; this is a different team. I can't say they're a great team, or even a team that will stick around for the rest of the season in the AL Central, but at least they're better, more entertaining, than last season.

I can sympathize with the White Sox tonight.

I spent much of the first half of Monday's game struggling to complete a project which seemed easy at first. I actually started this afternoon, and thought I'd be done before I sat down for dinner and game time. But every time I added another element to the project, a White Sox Blog Index which contains updates from around the net, something would break. And then when I thought I had it working, I realized I'd have to make it work (and look pretty) across all browsers -- no easy feat with the two available content widths and the criminally terrible IE 6 still being used by far too many of you.

The Sox, on the other hand, were faced with the seemingly easy task of taking on a young lefty, who wasn't even on the 40-man roster at this time last week, making his second major league start. Greg Smith, that's what they call him, was the least heralded of the 5 players sent to Oakland in the Dan Haren trade, the type who should seem, at least on paper, to be an easy victory. But Smith had little trouble taming the "top offense" in the AL, using the deadly combination of a changeup to keep runners off the bases and a balk disguised as a pick-off move to get rid of them once they got there.

Once Smith was chased, the Sox mounted two small offensives. Alan Embree, who threw 87% fastballs last season, wiped out the first one, striking out Jim Thome, who will get the day off tomorrow as the Sox face their third lefty in a row, on 4 straight breaking balls. Huston street took care of the second push, throwing all but one pitch off the outside corner of the plate. I've included MLB Gameday screencaps from Konerko, Quentin, and Crede's 9th inning at-bats for reference.

• Kurt Suzuki, who's no Donny Lucy, went 4-4. Nope, I'm never gonna stop with that one.
• Had the Sox have won the game, Nick Swisher would have been the lead story. He reached base in each of his first three trips to the plate, and gave one a ride in the 8th inning, shaving another few days off Hawk's life in the process.
• Emil Brown had a heckuva game as well. There were three balls hit to left field that I thought were doubles off the bat, and he held the Sox to singles on each occasion. He drove in the what proved to be the game winning run as well.
• Certified Sox killer Mike Sweeney's double came immediately after he popped up two pitches, the first of which is an out if the Sox have a first baseman with average to above average range.
• Boone Logan, pitching without that small woodland creature on his chin, was lights out cleaning up a typical Mike MacDougal mess. Logan struck out the two lefties he faced on a total of 7 pitches.

The Cheat is nowhere to be seen, so I figured I'd jump in with a recap of Saturday afternoon's game.

• Gavin Floyd came up with a performance that will be totally acceptable out of the fifth starter's role for the rest of the year. While not looking great, he didn't look totally horrible. 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER is a performance that should be good enough to win most games. He got the lead late in the game and held it during his final inning. It seemed like Gavin occasionally ran into problems with two outs, but hopefully that will be something that disappears after getting comfortable.
  
• Is there anyone more fun to watch in the lineup right now that Carlos Quentin? He's taking a starting spot and running away with it. I'm not sure which brought more joy to watch, his RBI single in the sixth inning or his absolute bullet from left field to nail a jogging Edgar Renteria trying to return to first base. Bad news for Jerry Owens supporters.
• Dontrelle Willis couldn't find the plate with a plate-finding machine, and it finally cost him in the sixth inning. Nick Swisher picked up his third walk of the game (and his sixth in this last two games) to start off the action. He may be hitting .200 after five games, but the .478 on-base percentage sure looks sexy. Moreover, he hasn't looked totally overmatched in center.
• After looking like secondhand horse poo in Spring Training, Jermaine Dye has been locked in to start the year, picking up his second home run in the eighth inning for that all important insurance run.
• What's up with Orlando Cabrera in the field? He botched a cutoff throw early in the game that led to an early Tiger run, and he's just looked out of sorts at times. He's drawn some walks but hasn't looked much better at the plate either. Could we start seeing Juan Uribe and Alexei Ramirez starting at shortstop on occasion?
• Toby Hall sucks. Good signing...in theory.
• Boone Logan, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby Jenks. 3 IP, 0 R. Gave up three hits and Jenks was a little off in the ninth, but there's nothing to be worried about yet. Logan still looks good against lefties and Linebrink is still looking worth the money. Hard to say much after five games, but it's still a hell of a lot more encouraging to see them start out hot.

The Sox go for the sweep tomorrow night on ESPN2, as Mark Buehrle faces Justin Verlander on Sunday Night baseball. Smart money says that Mark won't be quite as bad as he was in Cleveland on Opening Day. We may even see Brian Anderson tomorrow as part of the Sunday Getaway Lineup®, since there are rumors around the Sox clubhouse that he does in fact exist.