Sox' starting pitchers lacking run support

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The White Sox' offense hasn't been putting much pressure on opposing starting pitchers this season.

But there seems to be an opposite effect on Sox starters.

"We don't score runs and that puts a lot of pressure on those guys," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It's like every pitch they make has to be perfect, and that's a tough thing to do."

Two White Sox starters - Mark Buehrle and Gavin Floyd - rank among American League leaders for starting pitchers with the least amount of run support this season.

Buehrle is eighth and Floyd is tied for 14th. Neither pitcher is making any excuses.

"Obviously, you want runs scored for you, but when you have a 5.00 ERA it isn't like you're holding the team down to give your team a chance to win," said Buehrle, who is actually at 5.26. "I've just got to stay out of this big inning. It seems like I cruise along for however many innings and I have that bad inning."

Buehrle's bad inning in Friday night's loss to the Royals came in the seventh, when he allowed 5 runs (4 earned).

But even when the Sox' left-hander was working on a no-hitter through the first 51/3 innings, his teammates scored just 1 run.

Floyd, who starts against Kansas City today, was asked if having a comfortable lead makes his job easier.

"I would say yes and no," Floyd said. "No because you're not supposed to pay attention to that when you're a pitcher. But yes because it's a different mental state when you have 4 or 5 runs early on. You have some room to play with. But I think if you want to be one of the best pitchers in the game, you have to completely ignore that."

With a 1-3 record and a team-worst 6.92 ERA, Floyd's not about to blame the offense for his poor start.

"Some of the hitters, like some of the pitchers, we're struggling a little bit, you know?" Floyd said. "We just have to battle through it and keep being positive. You don't really have an answer for some of the questions. I wish I had an answer for why things aren't going particularly well for me. I know that I have the stuff, I have the ability, there's a reason why I'm here. I'm going to go out there and do my job and I'm sure everybody else feels the same way."