Baffled Konerko not panicking

My tape recorder was off, so I’m not going to directly quote — or even identify — the veteran White Sox captain I spoke with in the clubhouse before Monday night’s game against the Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field.

I shouldn’t even say this person, we’ll call him “Player X,” went on to hit a pair of home runs in the Sox’ 6-2 win at U.S. Cellular Field because of ethical issues.

But I will tell you what we talked about: a little hockey and a lot of White Sox baseball.

And trust me, Paul Konerko, I mean Player X, was as baffled as anyone by the Sox’ 10-19 start and more recent slide of 15 losses in 18 games.

It could be over now, thanks to Konerko’s hitting and starter Mark Buehrle’s stellar pitching, but one game is not going to be considered make or break in such a long season.

And neither is one month, which resembled manager Ozzie Guillen’s description of Alex Rios’ ailing left toe — rotten.

On a more serious note, Konerko has had a tough time coping with the poor start. But I don’t think I am betraying any confidence when I tell you the 35-year-old first baseman did not have even a trace of panic in his voice.

With the White Sox being a subpar cold-weather team, which is baffling in itself considering their home base, and an opening schedule featuring 35 of the first 58 games on the road, Konerko actually anticipated a shaky start.

But he said the Sox should be in good shape if they can end the month of May 5 or 6 games off the pace instead of the 10-spot they spotted the upstart Indians at the end of April.

We’ll see how that plays out, but the White Sox were feeling much better about themselves after beating Baltimore.

Sure, the game ended ugly thanks to reliever Chris Sale taking another step toward a minor-league demotion while allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk in the ninth inning.

But Guillen said the long slide might be over based on left fielder Juan Pierre’s terrific catch with a runner on third base and two outs in the fourth inning.

“It was huge,” Guillen said. “The game was on the line. Finally, I turn to (bench coach) Joey (Cora) and said, ‘The ball starts bouncing our way.’ I think that’s what we need. We need a break, and we catch a break. Hopefully, we roll from now and take it one day at a time and continue to play the way we played.”

Minus the ninth inning, the Sox played solid defense, they maximized 9 hits and Buehrle reverted to his old form while pitching 6 shutout innings.

As an added bonus, there was music in the postgame clubhouse! Been a while since that happened.

“It felt good,” Buehrle said after notching his 150th career win. “Everything was clicking. We are the best team in the majors right now with that win. Hopefully, we can carry this over to tomorrow. We have a tough pitcher facing us tomorrow (the Twins’ Francisco Liriano), so hopefully we can take this momentum and keep it going.”

sgregor@dailyherald.com