NEW YORK -- After the Chicago White Sox on Friday fell to third place for the first time since the morning of July 31, manager Ozzie Guillen said he is "confused."Robinson Cano's 10th-inning, three-run homer for the Yankees sent the White Sox to their fourth walk-off loss in 16 days, Guillen said he is on the verge of no longer being "positive" about his club.
"We change lineups every night, for different reasons," Guillen said. "We try to get a lot of people playing time -- not working. I try to be positive. But meanwhile, you can't be positive too long.
"We've got a lot of games left. You never know what's going to happen. But if we continue to play the way we are, it's going to be shorter than people think -- or going to be longer than people think. It's going to be a long month for us."
Chicago is 1-4 with six games left on an 11-game trip. In Friday's loss they managed to rally from a 2-0 deficit against CC Sabathia to tie the game in the seventh, but the rally ended when Ramon Castro was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Gordon Beckham's two-out single (photo).
"Never in my life," Guillen said, "I don't remember, somebody got thrown out at the plate [running on a ] 3-2 count with two out. If you're a manager, you wonder what is going to be next. When you see that [stuff], you're shaking your head like, 'Wow. That's amazing.'
"That's the way we roll right now."
The Sox -- who in nine days have fallen from two games behind the Tigers to five out -- have gotten nothing from their big acquisitions, Jake Peavy (still on the DL) and Alex Rios (.204, three RBI, 14 strikeouts in 13 games). But their biggest issue is the bullpen.
Over the past 12 games, Chicago relievers are 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA. Lefty Randy Williams came in for the 10th inning Friday and, with two out and nobody on, walked left-handed hitter Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher on eight straight balls. Then Cano homered on a 2-2 pitch.
"I feel confused," Guillen said, "because you try to get the guys a chance to have success when you bring [them in] and evidently we don't have that. It seems like every time we go to the bullpen we scratch our heads and try to figure out [how] to match up as best we can [and] the matchup we're looking for is all wrong.
"I've got to bring [Matt] Thornton in to pitch two innings every freaking night. I'm going to kill that kid. We try to stay with the best."With Peavy still not ready to go, Jose Contreras -- who was yanked from the rotation -- will start Saturday at Yankee Stadium (weather permitting). Contreras is 1-5 with a 6.16 ERA in his past eight starts.
"I don't have any choices," Guillen said. "Our choices in the minor leagues were not that good."
