Yankees 7, White Sox 2: Swept, and deservedly so

On his way to the Yankees dugout, Ivan Nova tipped his cap to the crowd. Normally, there'd be no reason to notice, because he pitched well, striking out 10 with zero walks over 7 2/3 innings, and left the game with a 4-1 lead.

There's just one problem: This game took place at U.S. Cellular Field.

That just about sums up everything that's wrong with the White Sox at the scene on the South Side. Ozzie Guillen was one month late in his prediction, because it's shaping up to be a dead-assed August.

The best you can say is that the Sox resumed losing typically. Phil Humber handled the Yankee lineup much better than either John Danks or Gavin Floyd, but got next to no support from the offense. The Sox were able to tie the game at 1 in the third -- a Juan Pierre sac fly to drive in Alejandro De Aza -- but that was the last White Sox plate appearance with a runner in scoring position. Adam Dunn did add a homer with two outs in the ninth inning, for what it's worth.

Then again, the Yankees didn't need that many baserunners to score four off Humber, who allowed just seven baserunners (five hits and two walks) over 6 1/3 innings. They just bunched together good at-bats, which is something the White Sox seem incapable of doing. That's why one team has won seven straight, and another is in the midst of a plummet into irrelevancy.

Notes:

*Paul Konerko went 2-for-3 in his first game back.

*Brent Morel made a nice play by luring Derek Jeter into straying too far from second on a grounder to third. He didn't give it away with his eyes, and at the last moment turned to second to get Jeter on the way back. Whether it was intentional, or whether he struggled to find a grip on the grounder, I don't quite know. But that was neat regardless.

*Also neat: Juan Pierre's slug bunt over the head of a very, very drawn-in Eric Chavez. Wish he would do that more often. Problem was, he was caught stealing afterward.

*The White Sox failed to draw a walk the entire series.

Record: 52-58 | Box score | Play-by-play