Rockies 5, White Sox 3

White Sox lose game, possibly Konerko too

Konerko's rib cage could put him on DL

By Dave van Dyck | Tribune staff reporter

9:48 PM CDT, June 15, 2008

After a double dose of bad news Sunday, the best medicine for the sagging White Sox is rest.

"We've been in a tough stretch, and it's good to have a day off at home, relax a little bit and get away from the game," Jermaine Dye said after the Sox lost for the fifth time in their last six games, falling 5-3 Sunday to the Rockies at U.S. Cellular Field.

As if the final score weren't bad enough, the health of Paul Konerko is worrisome. A trip to the disabled list may be coming after he missed Sunday's game with a strained muscle in his left rib cage.

"When you've got the problem with the rib cage, I hope for the best, but I'm not too optimistic about it because I know how the thing can be," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're going to make a decision [Tuesday] to see what we'll do.

"Most of the time [the DL] happens because that's a real sensitive area and one you use the most playing baseball."

Jim Thome missed three weeks with a similar injury last season.

Konerko first felt the pain during pregame indoor batting practice.

"I've never had anything happen like that," he said. "I don't have any answers. I took a swing and ended the day, and that's that. We'll see where it's at on Tuesday."

The Sox could have used the bat of their fourth-leading RBI man after leaving 11 runners stranded against four pitchers from the National League's worst staff. They hit .215 against the Rockies.

"We hit the ball well, but it wasn't the result we wanted," Guillen said.

Said Dye: "Just last homestand, everybody was saying as a team how good we were. We're going through a little streak where we're not coming up with a key hit."

That streak included the ninth inning, when the Sox loaded the bases with two outs, but Joe Crede flied out to Matt Holliday, who juggled the ball while going to his knees.

The Sox are now 0-27 when trailing after eight innings.

The loser was starter Jose Contreras, who gave up seven hits and four runs, including the third unearned run allowed by Sox pitchers in the last two days. Among his nemeses was ex-teammate Scott Podsednik, the Colorado DH who drove in the first run of the first inning with a single and later scored on a Matt Holliday single.

After the Sox scored two on Dye's 11th homer, Podsednik singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning.

"We all know how good a player he is when he's healthy," Contreras said of his former teammate. "He got me two times. He hits the ball everywhere. I'm glad for him. I hope he stays healthy."

Even with the loss, the Sox kept their 41/2-game lead over Minnesota. But now Cleveland is 5 1/2 back and Detroit is six behind.

Guillen was asked about losing back-to-back at home for the first time since May 23-24.

"Yeah, we worry about it—we might lose the pennant race," he replied sarcastically. "Don't get spoiled. We've been playing good. Those guys played better than we did.

"I worry about [things] more on the road because on the road we've been playing really bad."

The "road" doesn't come up again until this weekend—at Wrigley Field. Before that, the Sox host the Pirates three times after that needed day off.

"It will be nice to get away and think about something besides this and start again Tuesday," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.

dvandyck@tribune.com

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