White Sox bullpen struggles against K.C.

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CHICAGO - When they went to their bullpen, the White Sox trailed by two. When the game ended, they trailed by eight. Middle relievers Boone Logan, Nick Masset and Adam Russell allowed six runs in the eighth inning Saturday, as Kansas City turned a close game into a blowout. “We need those guys to contribute better,” Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said after his team lost, 9-1, to the Royals at U.S. Cellular Field. “I said that [Friday] night. Those guys in the middle of the bullpen, they have to be better if we want to get to where we want to get to. They have to step up and do a better job.” Guillen lifted starter Gavin Floyd (10-6) after six quality innings - the right-hander scattered four hits and an earned run, walked three and struck out six. Logan pitched a perfect seventh, but surrendered a leadoff single in the eighth. Guillen pulled him in favor of Masset, who immediately gave up a two-run homer. A single, a wild pitch and a walk later, Masset was lifted in favor of Russell. When yanking Masset, Guillen motioned for Russell almost as soon as he left the dugout, then grabbed the ball away from Masset as he got to the mound. Russell wasn't much better - after retiring a hitter, he allowed an RBI single, then walked a batter, then gave up a tide-turning, three-run double. Kansas City (44-54) sent 10 batters to the plate in the pivotal eighth. “Down by two runs, I'm not going to bring in [Octavio] Dotel, [Scott] Linebrink and [Matt] Thornton,” Guillen said, referring to his three short relievers. “That's not their job. Their job is different.” It was the second consecutive poor outing for the bullpen. On Friday, Masset, pitching with a five-run lead, couldn't last a full inning. Guillen scolded the bullpen after the performance. “I have to let the bullpen know, whoever we put in in the sixth, the seventh ... that's the guy we're going to use,” he said. “I want to get the best out of them. I don't want to use two, three guys in one inning. “I hope, whenever I put somebody out there, they go out there and shut it down.” Floyd said these things happen. “Every person, every player ... you're going to have ups and downs,” he said. If Friday was an up day for the Sox (55-41), Saturday definitely was down. They managed only two hits off Kansas City starter Gil Meche and none off three Royals relievers. Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynksi struck out twice, giving him five in two days. Third baseman Joe Crede made his second error in as many games - he has 19 on the year. Plus, pesky Minnesota won, cutting the Sox's division lead to a half-game. “There's going to be a lot of momentum swings,” Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. “There are enough games left where there's going to be hot streaks and cold streaks. “There's so much time left. It's not the middle of September where you can see the finish line, you can look at the schedule and say, ‘If we go 10-3, we got it.'” Konerko said it was too early for scoreboard watching. “You want to win, you want to pick up games, you don't want to drop games,” he said. “But you can't ... you're not there yet where it's come in, watch TV.”