Punchless White Sox struggle again in loss to Royals

Even before the game started, manager Ozzie Guillen ran down a list of things the White Sox have tried this season to get their inconsistent offense rolling. None of them have worked. And they didn't again Wednesday when Chicago ran into crafty 34-year-old veteran Bruce Chen of the Kansas City Royals.

"We have a shrink out there - I don't know what he's doing, but we have him. We have a coach here at 8 o'clock in the morning every day working with them. We have a video room, we have flips, we have all kinds of ... " Guillen said before the White Sox's 4-1 loss.

"You name it. It isn't working. How about going back to the old style? No videos, no scouting reports. Just get up there, see the ball, hit the ball and see what happens. I think there's too much information. I'm not talking about White Sox, I'm talking about baseball. We' have too much information. "

Guillen even offered to go to bat against Chen, his teammate many years ago with the Atlanta Braves. He was asked why lefty Adam Dunn, who's struggled more than any hitter in the game and was 2 for 56 against southpaws entering the game, was playing against a lefty.

"Have you seen Bruce Chen pitch? .... And Bruce Chen is my boy. I love this kid. I think Bruce has had trouble against lefties in the past because you take the change-up away from him," Guillen said.

But on Wednesday, Chen had everything working — he changed speeds and deliveries and just kept the struggling White Sox off balance. He got Paul Konerko to hit into a double play to end one potential rally and struck him out in the sixth. That's when they White Sox had a chance for a big innings, loading the bases with no out. But their only run came on Dunn's bases-loaded walk.

"He threw well all day. He basically did everything. I felt good going into the game, so anything I did poorly after that was probably a result of the way he threw the ball. You've got to give him credit," Konerko said.

"Sometimes, it's easier to face a right-hander that has a 95 mph fastball and a real hard slider. Those aren't fun, either, but at least you know it's one of the two pitches and you just have to be right on one of them. He was throwing five different pitches in four different areas, so that makes for a lot of different looks."

Guillen isn't sure how to shake his team out of its offensive funk. He said the way the White Sox are playing right now after losing two of three to the Royals they couldn't win a Little League championship.

Next up is the team the White Sox can never seem to beat, the Minnesota Twins. They come in for a four-game series. The Twins have beaten the White Sox 26 times in the last 32 games

"I don't care who's coming, I only care how we play," Guillen said.

"You're playing good, it doesn't matter who's coming into town. It could be the '27 Yankees, we play good, we're going to compete. We play the way we play right now, it's hard for me to say we're going to do this or that. The way we're going about our business this last series, there's a lot of ifs and a lot of questions to ask. Doesn't matter if it's the Twins, New York, Kansas City, I worry about how we play."

NOTES: Chicago starter Edwin Jackson settled down in the latter innings. He lasted seven innings and gave up eight hits and four runs. ... Reliever Hector Santiago made his major league debut for the White Sox and pitched a scoreless ninth. ... The White Sox are only 7-13 against the AL Central this season.