Sox suffer sweep of epic proportions

After a humiliating doubleheader sweep Friday at the hands of visiting Boston, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen joked that those were 12 hours he wanted back.

Following another thumping Saturday, a more subdued Guillen, noting his players' body language, worried that they had quit on themselves.

After Sunday's 11-1 loss, Guillen almost seemed at a loss for words. And anyone who knows the Sox' skipper knows that's no easy feat. But it just shows how bad things have gotten on the South Side.

"Even if you try, I don't think you can play at this (poor) a level," Guillen said after the Sox suffered their fourth consecutive double-digit loss at the hands of the Red Sox. "We caught them when they were playing well, and they caught us when we were playing bad."

The numbers certainly back that up.

Consider:

The Red Sox outscored the White Sox 46-7 in the four-game series, not to mention 75-17 in the last six games between the teams.

Boston's 11-1 win Sunday marked only the fourth time since 1900 that a team has scored 10 or more runs in each game of a four-game series. The last team to accomplish that was the Colorado Rockies in 1996.

"It's embarrassing to lose four games, especially the way we've been losing," said Javier Vazquez (11-7), who lost his duel with Boston's Julian Tavarez (7-9). "There's no point to keep talking about it. We're just not doing a good job."

Vazquez kept the powerful Boston lineup in check for 4 innings before David Ortiz broke things open with a 2-run homer that keyed a 4-run fifth inning.

"I don't think I did a good job," said Vazquez, who recorded 10 strikeouts. "They've got a pretty good lineup, but I'm supposed to do a better than job than that."

And so is the White Sox' offense, which mustered only 3 hits -- highlighted by Jermaine Dye's solo homer in the second -- as the Red Sox rolled to their first four-game sweep of the White Sox since 1988.

"We ran into the hottest team in baseball," center fielder Jerry Owens said. "It was like they couldn't get out, almost."

Even Boston manager Terry Francona was a bit stunned.

"In the fourth game of a series, to have a chance to put yourself into that position and then to win … it's gratifying," Francona said.

"They play hard, they hustle," Guillen said of the Red Sox. "Boston is the team to beat in the American League.

"They really outplayed us. They swept us this time, but we swept them in the big one (2005 playoffs), and that's when it counts."

Red Sox 11, White Sox 1

At the plate: The only offense the White Sox could muster was a Jermaine Dye solo home run in the second inning. It was Dye's 25th of the season.

On the mound: White Sox starter Javier Vazquez (11-7) cruised along through 4 innings before the Red Sox got to him for 4 runs in the fifth, highlighted by David Ortiz's 2-run home run. Vazquez eventually surrendered a season-high 7 earned runs over 6 innings.

-- Mike Spellman