Sox sloppy, angry in 4-3 loss to Minnesota
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been barking at shortstop Alexei Ramirez for much of the season.
On Monday night, during another loss (4-3) at the Metrodome against the Twins, A.J. Pierzynski went off on Ramirez.
The Sox committed 3 errors in the game, and 2 of them came in the second inning.
Minnesota cashed in with 2 unearned runs in the second on errors by second baseman Jayson Nix and first baseman Paul Konerko, which infuriated manager Ozzie Guillen.
The Twins' Alexi Casilla also stole second base in the second, and Pierzynski apparently had a problem with Ramirez, who was covering the bag.
"It happened," Pierzynski told reporters afterward. "It's over. You move on. And that's it."
TV replays showed Ramirez going after Pierzynski in the dugout, and the shortstop was being restrained by right fielder Jermaine Dye.
"I don't like my players digging into each other for no reason," Guillen told reporters. "I was upset with the way we were playing, too. And everything came together in the same inning.
Guillen threw a towel and tossed a bucket of gum after the error-prone second inning.
"I was upset because things like that can't happen," Guillen said. "I'm the one that puts the fingers on the players because this is my job, and anybody (who) has a problem with that, they know what to do."
The Twins led 2-1 after the second inning, but Konerko's 2-run homer in the third put the White Sox back in front.
But Minnesota answered in the sixth inning when Michael Cuddyer ended the scoring with a 2-run homer off Sox starter John Danks.
The White Sox fell for the 12th time in their last 14 games at the Metrodome.
Danks (8-7), who missed his last start with a finger injury, allowed 2 earned runs on 6 hits over 7 innings.
Konerko was charged with an error in the second inning, but Danks blamed himself for making a bad throw.
"That's a play that needs to be made 100 percent of the time, and it wasn't," Danks said. "I made a (bad) throw, and it cost us a run. We lost by 1, so that's something that definitely needs to get ironed out."
Scot Gregor's game tracker
Twins 4, White Sox 3
Monday's grade: D+. While losing for the 12th time in their last 14 games at the Metrodome, the Sox committed 3 errors and dropped to 1-4 on an important road trip.
Familiar territory: Paul Konerko hit his 20th homer of the season, a 2-run shot in the third inning. Konerko has hit 20 or more HRs 10 times in his career.
Welcome back: After missing his last start with a bad finger, John Danks pitched 7 innings vs. the Twins and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits.
On tap: Mark Buehrle was pretty good his last time out, and the Sox' ace lefty should have some added motivation Tuesday night. In his last start at the Metrodome, on July 12, Buehrle was torched for 8 runs in 31/3 innings.
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