Ohman: It stinks, but no concern

CLEVELAND — Much to the delight of White Sox fans throughout the world, Scott Linebrink is pitching for the Atlanta Braves this season.

But the Sox have a new veteran reliever who is attracting similar consternation.

After pitching poorly in his season debut on Friday (3 runs, 3 hits, 2 homers in two-thirds of an inning), Will Ohman allowed 3 more runs on 2 hits in 1.1 innings during Sunday’s 7-1 loss to the Indians.

Is the 33-year-old lefty worried about that 27.00 ERA?

“No concern,” Ohman said. “Bother definitely. I mean it sounds cliché but I’ve been doing this for a while and it’s a bad stretch right now. It stinks. But it’s not something that carries over for the season.”

The White Sox Ohman to a two-year, $4 million contract on Jan. 10 because they needed a left-handed specialist.

So far, Ohman hasn’t been able to get anybody out.

“When you throw the ball over the middle of the plate, guys hit it and that’s what it was,” Ohman said. “When I left the ball up they hit it and when I left the ball over the middle they hit it.”

Like he said, Ohman is an experienced performer and the two outings would probably be ignored in July or August.

It’s early, but manager Ozzie Guillen is already starting to worry, especially since the Sox have just six pitchers in the bullpen.

“Hopefully, we get him straightened out,” Guillen said.

“I worry about players losing confidence, and that’s the worst thing that can happen. We are only carrying 11 pitchers. We can’t have somebody up every time he pitches. We can’t have that luxury.”

Peavy update:

Injured starting pitcher Jake Peavy (shoulder tendinitis) pitched a simulated game in Arizona on Sunday and threw 59 pitches over 4.1 innings.

Afterward, Peavy said there were “no problems.”

On the disabled list (retroactive to March 22), Peavy is expected to make a few rehab starts before rejoining the White Sox at some point in May.

He’ll pitch for Class AA Birmingham on Friday.

“I look forward to the rehab starts and having more adrenaline,” Peavy said. “I do feel a lot better going through this process. The throwing sessions and the treatments with anti-inflammatories have a lot to do with this.”

Trouble at the gate:

Remember when the Indians were a huge draw?

From June of 1995 to April of 2001, Cleveland sold out 455 straight games at Jacobs/Progressive Field.

There was a full house for Friday’s season opener against the White Sox, but only 9,853 showed up on Saturday.

That was the smallest crowd ever at the Indians’ current ballpark, but only 8,726 fans were in the stands on Sunday.

“You’d like to have fans like Friday’s opening-day crowd, which was awesome,” Cleveland’s Travis Hafner said. “It’s up to us to play well and get wins and get the fans excited about the team.”

The Indians drew just under 1.4 million last season, the lowest attendance in baseball.