Sox fail to score; Wise, Quentin put up more 0-fers

Credit Dewayne Wise for one thing - he's taking all of the early pressure off his teammates.

Wise put up his second straight 0-for-4 in Wednesday night's 2-0 loss to the Zack Greinke and the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field, further turning up the heat on the journeyman center fielder.

Somewhat lost in Wise's shadow is Carlos Quentin, who nearly went after Greinke in a fit of early frustration.

In the first inning, Greinke buzzed an 0-2 fastball past Quentin's head. In the third, Greinke drilled Quentin in the back of the left shoulder, and the White Sox' left fielder took a couple steps toward the mound.

After being restrained by Kansas City catcher Miguel Olivo, Quentin altered his course and headed for first base.

The Sox and Royals had some flare-ups last season, and the announced crowd of 22,817 had to be wondering if manager Ozzie Guillen was going to have starter Gavin Floyd even the score by hitting a K.C. hitter.

Guillen didn't see the need.

"Everybody that gets hit gets upset," Guillen said. "You don't swing the bat well and all of the sudden you get hit, that's part of the game. But Carlos is a guy that's going to get hit a lot because he stands on top of the plate and doesn't move too much.

"I don't think it was intentional."

Quentin drew a walk in the sixth off Greinke, but he is 0-for-6 on the season and still trying to recapture the form he had in 2008, when he led the White Sox with 36 home runs and 100 RBI despite missing the final month of the season with a fractured right wrist.

Greinke made all of the Sox' hitters look pretty bad while allowing 3 hits over 6 innings.

"He was pretty darn good, 95 (mph), just painting, inside, outside, up, down," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He had a good slider, good curveball - that's what he can do. You've got to match him pitch for pitch and Gavin tried. Gavin basically made two mistakes the whole game."

Floyd's first miscue came in the third inning, when he left a pitch up and Coco Crisp drilled an RBI double. The second came in the fifth, and Mark Teahen drove home Mike Aviles with a two-out single.

"You just have to look at the positives," Floyd said. "I felt pretty good, and I felt stronger and stronger as the game went on."