Four HRs fuel Angels to 9-5 win over White Sox

There's been no middle ground thus far for the White Sox on their homestand.

While winning three straight against the New York Yankees, they were great. But Mark Buehrle and the Sox delivered a ragged performance while failing to complete the four-game sweep on Sunday.

Same deal with another first-place team - the Los Angeles Angels.

The White Sox played like serious postseason contenders in the first two games, but they had to stash the brooms again Thursday in a sloppy 9-5 matinee loss.

In obvious need of letting off some steam after witnessing the defeat from the dugout, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen jumped into the Angels' equipment truck after meeting the media and honked the horn.

"It was like a Little League game out there, walking people, giving up home runs, a lot of stolen bases," Guillen said. "The first couple innings weren't pretty."

Starter John Danks looked particularly bad, as did third baseman Gordon Beckham and shortstop Jayson Nix, who both made errors.

Relief pitcher Octavio Dotel had another forgettable outing, and right fielder Jermaine Dye forgot how many outs there were in the second inning, allowing Chone Figgins to tag up and score on a short flyball.

No wonder Guillen was honked off.

"We just couldn't get it going," first baseman Paul Konerko said. "We put some guys on there early to try to make a game of it. It was a good series, took two out of three, tried to get that sweep. If we keep putting ourselves in position, eventually that will happen. But not today."

Danks (9-8) was wobbly from the start, yielding 2 runs in the first inning, 3 in the second and 1 in the third.

The Sox answered back in the second inning on Nix's 3-run homer, and they added another run in the third, but Danks and the defense couldn't hold the Angels down.

"It wasn't a good day," Danks said after pitching 61/3 innings and giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits and 3 walks. "I got my (butt) kicked. That's all you can say. I didn't help myself out much, and I wasn't ahead in the count enough to really make them hit my pitch. I've got to get better."

Danks served up a 2-run homer to Jeff Mathis in the second inning and solo shots to Vladimir Guerrero in the third and Bobby Abreu in the fifth.

"I know I was horse (bleep)," Danks said. "These guys scored some runs. We should be able to at least be in the game a little more with 4 or 5 runs on the board. I just wasn't able to do it today."

After winning back-to-back series against quality opponents, the White Sox close out the homestand with three games against the decimated Cleveland Indians.

"We've got to make sure after the Yankees and Angels that we don't let down," Konerko said. "I thought we did a nice job of not letting down after the Yankees series. We've just got to keep it going here. It would be really nice to get on that plane Sunday to go to the West Coast with at least two out of three. That's the way I'm looking at it."

Gregor's game tracker

Angels 9, White Sox 5

Thursday's grade: D. The Sox didn't look like they were ready to play this one, and it showed on the scoreboard.

No sweep for you: The White Sox are 0-5 at home this season when going for a three-game sweep.

He's out: Chris Getz stole 15 straight bases before being caught at third in the second inning.

In a pinch: Dewayne Wise's pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning was the first RBI for the Sox in that category all season. Overall, the White Sox are 5-for-58 pinch-hitting.