Sox bats disappear against Twins again
Call them whatever fish name you want, the results are still the same.
The White Sox stink against the Twins.
According to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, the Twins are no longer the pesky, dangerous “piranhas.”
The new, unproven version of the injury-riddled Twins are the “sardines.”
That's the term Guillen threw out to reporters Thursday after the Sox lost 1-0 to Minnesota at Target Field.
Forget the wasted start from Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle and forget another invisible effort from the offense.
The White Sox couldn't beat the Twins at their old home, the Metrodome. They can't beat the Twins in their new digs, Target Field. And the Sox can't beat their AL Central rivals at U.S. Cellular Field, either.
What's next, a T-shirt trying to break the White Sox' apparent curse against Minnesota?
“Little sardines, they are (bleeping) sardines,” Guillen told reporters. “You see a bunch of midgets out there, but they can play. That kid who is the leadoff guy (Ben Revere), pretty good.
“When you're missing (Justin) Morneau, (Joe) Mauer, (Jim) Thome and (Jason) Kubel and you're still winning games, you have to give those guys credit.”
That's true, but the Sox' offense has to accept blame for failing to adapt to Minnesota's pitching.
Twins starter Carl Pavano kept the ball down and took advantage of too many long swings Wednesday night while beating the White Sox 4-1.
Rotation mate Nick Blackburn followed suit Thursday, shutting out the Sox for 8 innings before turning it over to fill-in closer Matt Capps.
Joining the Twins' lengthy list of injured hitters is all-star reliever Joe Nathan, who is still trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery.
Pavano and Blackburn didn't need much help shutting down the Sox.
The White Sox are now 0-4 against Minnesota this season and they've lost seven in a row and 28 of their last 35 against the Twins dating back to 2009.
So far this year, the Sox have scored just 2 runs in 4 games against Minnesota. They had chances in the rain-shortened two-game set at Target Field but were a combined 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position while grounding into 6 double plays.
The inability to come through with big hits against Minnesota really hurt Buehrle, who allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 7 innings. Michael Cuddyer's home run in the second inning decided the outcome.
Buehrle and Paul Konerko have been around the longest, and the duo realizes how susceptible the Sox are against the Twins better than anyone.
“It's frustrating, especially here against these guys,” Buehrle told reporters. “I don't think anyone has counted these guys out, especially with the guys they're getting back from the (disabled list).
“Six guys in their lineup weren't on their Opening Day roster, so they've got a lot of guys coming back that will make them better and they're coming on strong right now. We faced two quality pitchers and they held our offense down.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com