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CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox's emotions were thrown into a mixer over the last three days.

On Sunday, they celebrated a sweep of their cross-town rival, the Chicago Cubs.

On Monday and Tuesday morning, they mourned the passing of former White Sox pitcher and special coaching assistant Kevin Hickey during his wake and funeral.

On Tuesday evening, they were beaten handily by the Minnesota Twins, struggling equally offensively and defensively in a 9-2 loss at U.S. Cellular Field.

“They’ve been dealing with (Hickey’s medical situation) all year, but the finality of it with Hick…” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “We’ve been dealing with it all year, so guys have been able to put it aside when they play. It could (be a reason for today.)”

White Sox starting pitcher Gavin Floyd and first baseman Paul Konerko admitted Tuesday was a difficult day for their team.

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CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Minnesota Twins' 9-2 win over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday.

How it happened: The Twins have been White Sox starter Gavin Floyd's nemesis. He came into the game with a 0-7 record with a 7.65 ERA in his last seven starts against Minnesota dating back to Aug. 31, 2009. On Tuesday, it got worse for Floyd. He allowed eight hits, nine runs and three walks and lasted just 3 2/3 innings again them. Floyd has had problems in his last two starts after a stretch of four strong outings. He gave up 10 hits and seven runs in his previous start. Gordon Beckham gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo shot. Beckham has homered in three of the last four games.

What it means: The White Sox just can’t seem to get it right at home. They fell to 7-13 at U.S. Cellular Field with Tuesday’s loss. They also dropped back to under .500 for the season.

Outside the box: White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was worried before Tuesday’s game about a letdown after sweeping the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. Last year, the White Sox won both series against the Cubs and went on to lose their following series.

Up next: Chris Sale (4-2, 2.91) will start Wednesday for the White Sox in the second game of their three-game series with the Twins at 7:10 CT at U.S. Cellular Field. Scott Diamond (3-0, 1.40) will start for the Twins.

The aftermath of hitting Chicago White Sox captain Paul Konerko with a pitch on Friday was a bit surprising to Chicago Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija.

The split-finger fastball that tailed up and in to Konerko’s face has been interpreted as a purpose pitch on some national television broadcasts.

“I think those things create a big stir when things actually do happen,” Samardzija said. “In those cases you have to use common sense and know that I have him 0-2 and I’m throwing a splitter at 84 mph. I am not trying to hit him, I want to strike him out. There are times that you look at (a hit by pitch) as pretty obvious what has happened. Mine definitely wasn’t (intentional), but you have to have something to talk about.”

Samardzija was so concerned about Konerko’s health that he checked updates on his condition and tried calling Konerko after batting practice Saturday.

“Knowing that I did not hit Paul intentionally helped me move on after the game,” Samardzija said. “I did have to get over the initial hump of seeing a guy you know and respect take one over the eye. That is one spot for baseball guys that is sacred, around your vision. I’m sure it was a scary one for him but I had to get over the fact. It was an accident. Everyone knows Paul is a tough guy and he will bounce back big. I got word is he is all right and will be back soon so I wish him the best.”

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CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber and Chicago Cubs first baseman Bryan LaHair disagreed Friday whether Humber intended to throw at LaHair in retaliation for White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko being hit by a pitch.

Konerko was hit in the head by a splitter from Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija in the top of the third inning. Konerko suffered a small laceration above his eye and swelling and was taken to the hospital for testing. He did not return to the game.

After pitching to Samardzija and three other Cubs hitters in the bottom of the third, Humber’s first pitch to LaHair in the bottom of the fourth, a high fastball, soared behind LaHair’s head. The pitch resulted in home plate umpire Tim Timmons issuing warnings to both dugouts.

“That just got away from me,” Humber said. “It’s one of those things that happens during the game.”
LaHair didn’t see the pitch the same way.

“Definitely felt like it was intentional,” LaHair said. “They waited a whole inning and then the first pitch was right at my head. I'm all right with getting hit and stuff like that, I understand, but when you start getting around people's heads that can be scary. It is what it is. Nothing happened. I didn't get hurt or anything so move on from it.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Chicago White Sox desperately needed a strong outing from one of their starters. Chris Sale provided it.

The 23-year-old left-hander pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the White Sox capitalized on some shoddy defense by the Los Angeles Angels for a 6-1 victory Thursday.

After a three-game stretch in which starters John Danks, Jake Peavy and Gavin Floyd gave up a combined 18 earned runs over 14 1-3 innings, Sale (4-2) restored order in his sixth major league start. He struck out seven and was working on a three-hit shutout in the sixth when he gave up a one-out homer to Albert Pujols and a double to Mark Trumbo and was replaced by Nate Jones.

"It was nice to see Chris have a good start," Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko said. "He had that little thing where he got out of the rotation for a week and missed a turn, and I think there's no question that it kind of blew his rhythm -- because he didn't have a good game last time. So it was nice to see him get it back, because he was on his way to having a great year."

Sale joined lefty Steve Rosenberg (1989) as the only White Sox pitchers to give up three runs or less in each of their first six big league starts since divisional play began in 1969.

"I guess that's a cool stat, but it's obviously something I don't pay attention to at all," Sale said. "I have a job to do, and that's to go out and keep my team in the game, keep the other team to fewer runs on the board than the other starter and pitch deep into the game. That's my main focus."

A first-round draft pick in 2010, Sale was used exclusively in relief by the White Sox during his two previous seasons in the big leagues. Two of those relief outings were against the Angels, who got to see him again during spring training.

"He did a good job today and was pretty sharp, for the most part," Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick said. "He got outs and put up zeros, and that's what you want your starter to do. He's got a good two-seam fastball, he threw strikes and was able to get guys out with his breaking ball."

C.J. Wilson (4-4) threw 88 pitches in 3 2-3 innings and tied a career high with six walks. The left-hander was charged with four runs -- one earned -- and four hits. He also walked six Marlins batters on June 15, 2010, at Miami while pitching for the Texas Rangers.

"I had a little stomach virus today, so I couldn't really get anything going," Wilson said. "It was just weird. I almost passed out after the first inning. I didn't set a good tone, and that's pretty much my fault. I put the defense to sleep out there -- and the bats, too, I guess."

A.J. Pierzynski delivered a two-out RBI single in the third to open the scoring, after flying out with the bases loaded to end the White Sox first. He was 3 for 5 with two RBI singles, and is 29 for 70 in his last 19 games at Angel Stadium.

Chicago tacked on three unearned runs in the fourth with the help of two balls that should have been caught and weren't. Angels center fielder Mike Trout started in right for the first time this season due to the absence of nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter because of his son's arrest in Texas, and dropped a routine flyball by Dyan Viciedo with one out.

Viciedo ended up at second base on the error, and Wilson walked the next two batters before Adam Dunn chased the left-hander with a two-run single. David Carpenter came in and Konerko hit a popup to short right field, but the ball fell in front of Kendrick after he called off Trout. It was scored as an RBI single.

"It was right in the sun," Kendrick said. "I made a mistake and had my sunglasses on my hat, and I should have had them on there. But I still have to make that play, regardless. We can't allow that to happen. We've got to make plays and give the team the best opportunity to win. Today we missed some flyballs, and we've got to work on that."

In the fifth, Alexei Ramirez's blooper fell between Trout and Kendrick for a hit after a leadoff single by Pierzynski. Viciedo followed with a flyball to short center, where Peter Bourjos converged with Trout and Kendrick before making the catch -- resulting in a derisive cheer from the crowd of 30,786. Carpenter then fielded Brent Morel's comebacker and started a double play.

Viciedo led off the eighth with his sixth homer and third in a four-game span. Three batters later, three-time Gold Glove winner Vernon Wells scaled the fence in front of the left field bullpen and pulled back Gordon Beckham's bid for a two-run homer.

Following Sunday's 3-1 loss to Detroit, the Chicago White Sox optioned right-handed pitcher Dylan Axelrod to Triple-A Charlotte.

Axelrod, who made his first start of the year in Sunday's loss, is 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in three appearances with the White Sox this season after being recalled from Charlotte on April 27. Axelrod took the loss Sunday, giving up two runs, both homers) on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

A corresponding roster move will be made before the first game of Monday's split doubleheader at Cleveland.

It might be a little early to start handing out All-Star ballots, but Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale is certainly opening up some eyes around the American League. Sale won his third game of the season on Tuesday, allowing just one run in six innings in a 7-2 victory over Cleveland.

The young left-hander was more excited about teammate Gordon Beckham's breakout three-hit game than his third win of the season.

“That was probably the [most fun] part of the game tonight watching Gordon go off,” Sale said. “He was taking good at-bats, taking good swings. Yeah, I think we got him back.”

Before the game manager Robin Ventura confirmed his belief in both Beckham and third baseman Brent Morel, who have been slumping with the bat since the season began. Ventura did say that at some point both needed to begin producing in order to remain starters.

“He swung it well,” Ventura said. “That’s just a part of believing in himself and that he keeps working at it. It’s just nice to see that it does pay off and that he hasn’t gone down that path of not believing in himself.”

Beckham not only hit his first home run of the season, he broke out of an 0-for-10 slump and doubled his RBI output from two to four. Beckham pointed to a good at-bat on Saturday night that may have jump started his offensive outburst on Tuesday.

“I battled in that at-bat,” Beckham said. “I didn’t feel great and knew that the game was on the line and did not give in, so that definitely was a good at-bat.”

A.J. Pierzynski started the White Sox scoring with his fifth home run of the season in the second inning of off Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Much like his teammates, Pierzynski was excited for Beckham.

“April is over and he and Albert Pujois went homer-less in April,” Pierzynski joked. “It was nice to see him get his first one out of the way. That should help him relax and use the whole field.”

With a record of 12-11 the Sox are in a three-way tie for first place in the AL Central with the Tigers and the Indians.

A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

How it happened: Thanks to an error-filled third inning the White Sox were able to put up four runs in support of starter Chris Sale. Gordon Beckham had his best offensive night of the season, leading off the third inning with his first home run of the season of off Cleveland starting pitcher Ulbaldo Jimenez and finishing with three hits. The Sox got a break on an infield popup that was lost in the smoke from the exploding score board that had blown into the infield. They scored three more runs on an error, two walks and a fielder’s choice. A.J. Pierzynski continues to have great at-bats, hitting his fifth home run of the season with one out in the second inning.

What it means: The White Sox moved into a first place tie with Cleveland and Detroit after another masterful outing by Sale, who is 2-0 against the Indians in 2012. Beckham had his first three-hit game of the year and doubled his RBI output from two to four. Beckham was in an 0-10 slump before hitting his home run.

Outside the box:The White Sox are now 5-1 against the American League Central after going 32-40 in their division during 2011. Both Beckham and Brent Morel started to hit after manager Robin Ventura said that both players needed to improve their performance soon.

Up next: Right-hander Phil Humber (1-1, 4.66) and Cleveland right-hander Josh Tomlin (1-2 5.48) are the starting pitchers for Wednesday’s 7:10 start at U.S. Cellular Field.

Chicago White Sox setup man Jesse Crain will throw a bullpen session on Thursday in his first serious attempt at returning to the mound since straining a left side oblique.

Crain went on the DL retroactive to April 21 and can return to the roster on May 6. There is no plan in place for Crain as of yet and a rehab outing or two is possible.

The veteran pitcher loosened up on the side Tuesday for Sox pitching coach Don Cooper.

“He will probably get on the mound on Thursday,” Cooper said. “He still feels some [discomfort], but I don’t think we have lost any time.

“We have not discussed it to the point of sending him out, or is he going to be all right after these two sidelines. So we have not gotten there yet.”

With Crain on the DL, the White Sox bullpen has five pitchers with 50 or fewer days of major league experience.

Crain has a 2.57 ERA with two holds so far in 2012. The right-hander missed 10 days in spring training with a right oblique strain.

With Phil Humber's perfect game barely a week old, fellow Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd tried to make that a distant memory on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately for Floyd, he lost the perfect game in the fifth with a walk and lost his bid for a no-hitter in the seventh, when Dustin Pedroia grounded a single up the middle.

Floyd still managed to limit the Red Sox to only one run in his 6 2/3 innings of work as the White Sox held on for a 4-1 victory, ending a five-game slide and avoiding a four game sweep.

“Gavin just had it,” manager Robin Ventura said. “I don’t know if you can sit there and kind of visualize a perfect game, no-hitter, I think people were probably doing that. But he's been that way. He's just been consistent, just locating and his off-speed pitches have been great.”

While pointing out that Floyd’s curveball was great as usual, catcher A.J. Pierzynski credited the use of his fastball for his success on the day. Pierzynksi said that Floyd had gone to his slider in big situations in the past, but today went with the fastball and caught the hitters off-guard.

With the White Sox holding on to a slim lead and facing a potent Boston lineup that has proven they can score in bunches, Pierzynski knew that the focus had to be on keeping the Red Sox off the board.

“You don’t even worry about that [no-hitter] stuff until the seventh, eighth inning,” said Pierzynski, who was behind the plate for Humber’s perfect game. “Gavin pitched well. He deserves a ton of credit. There was never a thought of perfect game or no-hitter or any of that stuff. You are trying to get through because you know at any moment they could strike for a bloop and then a home run and they are right back in the game.”

However, when Floyd was asked if he the thought of perfection had entered his mind, he gave a different point of view.

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A quick look at the Chicago White Sox's 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.

How it happened: White Sox starter Gavin Floyd was dominant, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Floyd ended up giving up three hits and a run in the inning, and ended his day with 6 2/3 innings pitched, nine strikeouts and one walk. The offense showed up early, scoring three runs in the first, including a two-run homer off the bat of Adam Dunn, his fifth of the year. They tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to give Matt Thornton a bigger cushion as he picked up the save.

What it means: The White Sox ended their five-game losing streak and got back to the .500 mark at 11-11. The White Sox are now even with the Detroit Tigers in second place in the AL Central and are only one game back of the first-place Cleveland Indians.

Outside the box: After giving up 10 runs in each of the first two games of the series to a torrid Red Sox offense, the White Sox pitching staff settled down in the final two games of the series. The Sox allowed only one run in each of the last two games, cooling down an offense that had averaged 8.7 runs in its previous six games.

Up next: Chris Sale (1-2, 3.12 ERA) takes the mound for the White Sox as they start a three-game set against the Indians. Cleveland counters with Ubaldo Jimenez (2-1, 4.50) at U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura knows his offense has been struggling, but for right now, he’s not losing any sleep over it.

“There’s not a lot you can do, this is who we are,” Ventura said. “You work at it, you look at stuff and try and help guys out. We haven’t spent any all-nighters in here.”

When Ventura says this is who the White Sox are, hopefully he doesn’t mean they’re a team that will average two runs a game, which is what they’ve done during their five-game losing streak.

Ventura decided to give two struggling players, Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham, days off on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. Beckham is hitting .153, Morel is hitting .178 and neither has a home run on the season. Ventura said he’s just going with a different look with the lineup, but wasn’t committing to any permanent changes. Ventura said he’d wait and see how things go on Sunday, but expected them to both be back in the lineup on Tuesday.

“I think a lot of it has become mental, it mounts up on them,” Ventura said of Morel and Beckham’s struggles. “These are just little mental breaks, giving them this day and they have [Monday] off and then they’ll be back at it. You look at Gordon, the at-bat he had last night, it was a good at-bat. He just didn’t get a hit. But he grinded it out, the competitiveness was there. He competed that at-bat.”

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CHICAGO -- Lobbed a postgame question which would have allowed him to speak on his positives along with his negatives this season, Chicago White Sox starter John Danks opted to go in just one direction on Friday.

“I’m not OK with it at all,” Danks said. “I stole two wins, and I’ve pitched like [expletive] the two other ones. That’s way too inconsistent. That’s the deal. I got to go out there and do my job. I got to do my job every day.”

Since being handed the ball as the White Sox’s 2012 Opening Day starter, along with the responsibility of being the team’s ace, Danks realizes he hasn’t lived up to expectations so far.

Friday didn’t help matters. After four unimpressive outings to start the season, Danks wasn’t able to change course when he took the mound for the fifth time on Friday. He allowed seven runs and walked four in 5 2/3 innings as the White Sox lost to the Boston Red Sox 10-3 at U.S. Cellular Field.

With the defeat, Danks fell to 2-3 and his ERA rose to 6.23. In April, he has allowed 31 hits, 21 runs and 15 walks and thrown four wild pitches while striking out 24 in 30 1/3 innings. He’s only pitched deeper than six innings once and hasn’t allowed less than three runs.

Danks’ trouble Friday began when he walked Kevin Youkilis to begin the second inning. Up next, David Ortiz made Danks pay by hitting a two-run home run into the left-field bleachers.

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CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Boston Red Sox's 10-3 win over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday.

How it happened: The Red Sox’s lineup roughed up the White Sox’s starting pitching for the second consecutive night. An evening after battering Phil Humber in a 10-3 win, the Red Sox knocked around John Danks on Friday. The Red Sox scored twice in the second inning and added five more runs against Danks in the sixth. Darnell McDonald led the sixth-inning output with a three-run double. Danks allowed six hits, seven runs and walked four in 5 2/3 innings. He is now 2-3 with a 6.23 ERA. Paul Konerko gave the White Sox a brief 3-2 lead with a solo home run in the fifth inning. He has five home runs on the season and 401 for his career.

What it means: The White Sox are now in a four-game losing streak for the first time this season. They also dropped to .500 again.

Outside the box: The White Sox had only lost twice this season by more than three runs prior to the Red Sox coming to town, and one of those defeats came in extra innings. In the two games with the Red Sox, the White Sox have been defeated by seven and seven runs.

Up next: White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy (3-0, 1.88) has been one of the best starters in the majors this season. He’ll make his fifth start of the year on Saturday. The Red Sox will counter with Jon Lester (0-2, 6.00) in the third game of the four-game series.

The Chicago White Sox fans have grown to expect Jake Peavy to be inconsistent and unreliable.

Since Peavy arrived to the White Sox in a trade from the San Diego Padres on July 31, 2009, his Chicago tenure has been as smooth as Friday traffic on the Kennedy Expressway. He’s been saddled with injuries and rarely resembled anything near the top form he possessed with the Padres.

Even in the one stretch of games where Peavy began to look a bit like the pitcher who twice led the National League in ERA, fans had their hopes quickly crushed. Peavy strung together five consecutive strong outings in June of 2010, allowing just seven runs in 36 innings, and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during his first July start.

Knowing Peavy’s history, it’s easy to understand why fans have had guarded optimism with his hot start in 2012.

Sure, he looked good pitching six innings, allowing three runs and striking out five, in his season debut, but fans wondered what would happen next.

When he followed that up by going 6 2/3 innings and giving up two hits and two runs and striking out eight, there was still a feeling it was a fluke.

But he continued to diminish the pessimism in his third start by exceeding his first two outings. Peavy went seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks while striking out eight in a win over Baltimore Orioles last week.

And then if there were doubters remaining, Peavy went out Monday and topped all three of his previous starts. He pitched nine innings, giving up three hits, no runs and no walks and recorded five strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Oakland Athletics.

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