U.S. Cellular still a dead zone for Sox
A crowd of 23,130 was on hand at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday night to welcome the White Sox back from a 6-1 road trip.
Kudos to the 17,500 that stayed home. You all get gold stars for knowing better.
The White Sox have been performing from the same unsettling script since the start of the season. They play well away from home, return to the South Side and promptly bomb.
The act is getting old, but it was an encore performance in a 5-1 loss to Bruce Chen and the Royals to begin a nine-game homestand.
Not only did the Sox lose ground to the Tigers and Indians in the AL Central, they lost for the seventh straight time at the Cell. They've also been outscored 54-17 during the very sad stretch.
Overall, the White Sox are 24-33 at home and 34-27 on the road.
Scratch. Head. Here.
“I wish I had anything to say about why we play so poorly here,” manager Ozzie Guillen. “It can be a lot of things, maybe too much pressure, maybe they want to do too much. The reason is this ballclub on the road is more relaxed than it is at home, there's no doubt about that.
“I think on the road, before the game or after the game, if we lose or win, the team is more relaxed. What's the reason? Like I say, the reason is you have to be Chicago tough. This is Chicago tough. In the meanwhile, the ballclub is more relaxed when we play on the road than at home.”
The home crowds have been on the Sox all year, for good reason.
Some can block it out, and some can't.
Take Alex Rios, for instance.
Seemingly back to his old self after batting .333 with 4 doubles, a home run and 4 RBI on the road trip, Rios twice came to the plate against Chen with the bases loaded and two outs.
He was retired on lazy flyballs to right field, twice. He was loudly booed, twice.
“We were one hit away to get something going,” Guillen said. “Alex was the hitter, he can't get it done. For some reason, this guy's been swinging the bat pretty good on the road, very good. Even the outs he was making were pretty hard. He comes home and he can't get it going, I don't know what's the reason.”
Well, there is that Chicago tough theory.
So the White Sox try pulling you back in with solid road play and the come back home and fool you again.
Well, at least the final curtain will fall after 44 more games, barring a miracle.
“There's no explanation for it,” said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who made an early exit Friday with a sore left wrist. “Sometimes guys try too hard. We want to do well and do well in front of our home crowd. When it doesn't work, you start pressing a little bit and try to do a little bit extra. We have to try to relax and play.
“We have to win every game. We've been saying that for a while. There's no hiding from that fact. It is what it is. We have to go out and play and play hard and hopefully it works out.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com