Guillen not concerned, but says Sox need to be
BOSTON - It's hurricane season, and the Ozzie Guillen watch continued Saturday.
When the White Sox are playing poorly, like say, now, Guillen has shown he is capable of unleashing a powerful storm of criticism toward his players.
But after the White Sox lost to the Red Sox 8-2 Saturday night at Fenway Park, Guillen barely packed a punch.
"I'm not concerned," Guillen said after the White Sox' third straight loss by a combined score of 27-5. "They have to be concerned. Myself, I'm ready. I put all the stuff there, I try to put the best lineup out there, I root for them.
"I'm behind them 100 percent, but in games like that it's up to the players how they're going to handle it, how they're going to show up and play.
"You can do so much to make them go out and fight. They are the ones that have to fight. We are in the corner. We have to continue to go out and play, and hopefully we play better.
"But don't lie down and make this game another game. The games coming are not another game. They are important games, and there's no doubt we have to get better."
The Sox' pitching staff has been taking beating lately, and Mark Buehrle was the latest starter to step into the ring.
The left-hander gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in the first inning, and Boston cruised from there for another easy victory.
"The first couple of innings, I felt like I was making some quality pitches and they were getting hits," Buehrle said. "From that third inning on, I was just leaving everything up and they were putting balls in play and getting flyballs. It was just one of those games."
Buehrle lasted just 4 innings and gave up 7 runs on 11 hits.
"Everything was high," Guillen said. "When Buehrle's high, that's what he's going to get. He can't afford to be high up in the strike zone because that's not his pitching philosophy. He has to keep the ball down, change speeds. The last couple of times he's been high, and every time he's high he's going to get killed."
The White Sox' offense avoided being shut out a second straight night at Fenway, but they weren't able to do much against Michael Bowden, a Waubonsie Valley High School product who was making his first major-league start.
The Sox scored single runs off Bowden in the second and third innings but were a dismal 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
"Coming in here, we knew they had a very good club and they play very well here," Jim Thome said of the Red Sox. "They have swung the bats well.
"I mean, we have good pitching, and the bottom line is they have come out the last couple of days and swung the bats well, put pressure on our defense, and they have got two good pitching performances as well."
Dustin Pedroia (4-for-4, intentional walk) had another monster night for Boston. The second baseman is 8-for-8 with 2 walks in the series.
"Right now he's on a roll," Guillen said. "This guy is on fire. No matter what you throw up there, he's going to get it."