Sox' bats have gone AWOL in 8-3 loss to Jays

White Sox starter John Danks would seem to deserve the blame for Friday night's 8-3 loss at Toronto.

The left-hander lasted just 3 innings against the Blue Jays, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits.

"Pitching dictates the way the game's going to be played," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters. "But in the meanwhile, we're struggling with the hitting. Offensively, we're really, really bad right now. We have to be better than that. How? It's my job to figure out how.

"We're going to make maybe a few changes in the lineup to see if that works. But when the manager changes the lineup every day, that's not a good sign of a winning ballclub."

After falling behind the Jays 8-0, the White Sox (15-19) avoided their seventh shutout of the season on Paul Konerko's solo home run off rookie Toronto starter Brett Cecil in the fifth inning.

In the sixth, Jermaine Dye added a 2-run homer. Earlier in the day, Dye was suspended two games for his actions in a 4-0 loss at Cleveland on Wednesday.

Dye is appealing the suspension.

The Sox' offensive woes have put hitting coach Greg Walker back on the hot seat. But before heading back to Chicago for son Ozzie Jr.s' college graduation, Guillen went to bat for Walker.

"A lot of people blame Greg Walker, that's a bunch of (bleep)," Guillen said. "This guy is here every day, 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock working with the players. He's out there working with the players, out there giving them the information - we just don't get it done.

"Don't blame Walk. All the fans out there that think they know about hitting, don't blame Walk. If they're going to blame Walk, blame me for giving Walk the job. In the past, when the coaches don't work for me the way they should be working, they're gone. Walk works his tail off every day to get those players better. Whoever wants to blame Walk out there, they better not waste their energy because it's not Greg Walker's fault."

As for the lineup changes, Guillen said he'll discuss them with Walker and bench coach Joey Cora.

The Sox' list of slumping hitters is headed by Josh Fields. Benched Friday, the third baseman was benched Friday and is 3-for-23. Chris Getz is 1-for-15 and Carlos Quentin is 1-for-12.