Sox problems magnified in really ugly finish
The original story angle from U.S. Cellular Field on Monday night?
It was going to be the White Sox' offense, and selecting a suitable date for panic.
The Sox' lack of production from several regulars was all the rage in the early going, despite some positive results on other fronts.
But all of the sudden, the White Sox blew a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning and a host of other warts screamed for attention.
So for now, we'll put the collective offensive struggles of Brent Morel (.103), Gordon Beckham (.115), Alex Rios (.200) and Adam Dunn (.200) on hold.
Let's shift the attention to some bad relief pitching and defense, and try to get the bottom of the Sox' ugly 10-4 loss to the Orioles in 10 innings at U.S. Cellular Field.
New closer Hector Santiago came on in the ninth with a 2-run lead and seemingly got off to a good start by striking out Nolan Reimold on a 2-2 pitch.
Home-plate umpire Lance Barrett thought otherwise, calling a ball, and Reimold homered on the full count to make it 4-3.
After retiring the next two Baltimore hitters, Santiago gave up another home run, to Adam Jones, which wound up sending the game into extra innings.
Center fielder Alejandro De Aza's 3-base error in the top of the 10th set the stage for the Orioles' 6-run outburst against reliever Zach Stewart, but Santiago didn't get the job done after failing to strike out Reimold.
“It was a tough night,” Santiago said after blowing his first save. “One pitch could have changed the inning. Just learn from it. Just go back out there and make a better pitch.”
Santiago picked up saves in each of his first three appearances, but the rookie left-hander is now sitting on a 6.75 ERA.
“I wasn't expecting Hector to be perfect, but he battled,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “I have the confidence in him to put him right back out there tomorrow night. That's one of those that's a tough loss, but we'll bounce back.
“It's one of those I think that you go through during a season; you are going to have them every once in a while. You want to turn it around tomorrow.”
Getting back to the offense, the holes throughout the Sox' lineup appear to be as gaping as ever.
Fortunately for the White Sox, Paul Konerko is still in the swing of things at the age of 36.
With the score tied at 1 in the sixth inning, De Aza led off with a single and, to his credit, Morel managed to get a bunt down.
De Aza moved up to second base and Morel was safe when Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis dropped starting pitcher Jake Arrieta's throw for an error.
Up next, Dunn got ahead in the count at 3-0 and it looked like the White Sox were going to load the bases with no outs.
Instead, Arrieta followed with three straight strikes to get Dunn.
That brought Konerko to the plate, and he extended hit hitting streak to nine games to open the season by doubling to right field on a 1-2 pitch, scoring De Aza and Morel.
sgregor@dailyherald.com