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Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was named American League Player of the Week on Monday.

Konerko batted .435 with three home runs and four RBIs in six games last week. The highlight of his week came on Wednesday when his 400th career home run tied the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning with the Sox eventually losing the game in the 14th inning.

Konerko is the second straight White Sox player to win Player of the Week. Philip Humber won the honor after throwing a perfect game on April 21 against the Seattle Mariners.

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 -- White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was scratched from the lineup on Sunday with a stiff neck.

"He's had (a stiff neck) the past couple days, but played through it," manager Robin Ventura said. "Today it's just more of being cautious so nothing happens."

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CHICAGO -- Jake Peavy’s complete game four-hitter was a wasted effort as the White Sox starter was the hard luck 1-0 loser on Saturday night.

The Red Sox, behind the equally strong pitching of Jon Lester, scored the only run of the game on a Texas-league double by former Chicago outfielder Ryan Sweeney and the Adrian Gonzalez RBI single that followed in the fourth inning.

“It’s unfair to expect him to pitch like that every time out, but he just continues to impress,” manager Robin Ventura said. “The frustrating part is you get a performance like that and don’t take advantage of it.”

Peavy has now thrown back-to-back complete games for the first time in his career. The Red Sox’s run snapped a 17 inning scoreless streak by Peavy.

“It was just a tough loss for us,” said Peavy. “I was pleased by the way I performed, but at the same time, losing is losing. You just don’t want to get beat, but I am giving you all I got and that is a great team across the way, and when Jon Lester puts it all together, he is mighty tough.”

The White Sox squandered some scoring chances, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position . Adam Dunn made a base-running gaffe in the first inning that cost the team a run. Dunn walked with two outs and made the mistake of slowing up going to third on Paul Konerko’s double to left that was juggled by Cody Ross.

“That’s one of those you’re not sure he is still going to make it or not,” Ventura said. “He saw Ross getting in front of it so he (Dunn) didn’t think he was going.”

The White Sox have struggled all season to put up runs with men in scoring position they are just 16 -68 (.235 )in their last 8 games.

CHICAGO -- Here's a look at the White Sox's loss to Boston on Saturday night.

How it happened: White Sox starter Jake Peavy continued his outstanding early season performance as he matched up with Jon Lester in a nice pitching duel. Boston scored the game’s lone run in the fourth on a duck-snort double by Ryan Sweeney and an RBI single from Adrian Gonzalez. The Boston run ended a 17 inning scoreless streak for Peavy, who went the distance in a losing effort.

What it means: Peavy loses his first game of the season despite allowing just four hits and one run. The Sox’s starter has given up just 4 earned runs in the last 30 2/3s innings of work. The White Sox have lost a season-high five straight games. The Red Sox have won the first three games of the series.

Outside the box: With two doubles, Paul Konerko tied Eddie Collins for fourth place on the all-time Sox hit list with 2007. The Sox’s catchers have thrown out 72 percent of attempted base stealers the best ratio in the major leagues (8 of 11 ).The catchers were successful only 17 percent of the time in 2011.

Up next: RHP Josh Beckett (2-2 4.56 ERA ) opposes Gavin Floyd (1-3 3.60 ERA ) in the finale of this 4 game series.

The White Sox’s bullpen continues to get younger and less experienced every day. With that, the burden of helping the kid pitchers improve falls squarely on veterans like Matt Thornton, Will Ohman And Jesse Crain.

Thornton, the most tenured of the group, takes his role of friend and teacher seriously.

“I think every guy is different,” Thornton said. “Every pitcher has his own makeup, some need time in the minor leagues to be groomed others can get there more quickly. So far these guys have been great ,they are working hard. They are staying late after games. They are staying humble, doing everything that has been asked of them.”


to after the pen has done a great job to get us to the 14th inning to tie game and then oh my gosh we lost in a blink of an eye humble doing everything that is asked of them “

Thornton pointed to Hector Santiago’s meltdown in Oakland on Wednesday as how you are tested in the big leagues.

“You go from, ‘hey this game is locked down’ after the pen had done a good job to, ‘oh my gosh we just lost in the blink of an eye,’” Thornton said. “(Santiago ) was frustrated with the result, but to his credit he shook it off, showed up with a good attitude, working hard the next day.

No one can remember a team that had five rookies in its bullpen winning a division in recent years. Thornton, however, doesn’t concern himself with that.

“We are right around .500 and we have a lot of baseball to go,” Thornton said. “We have seen some good and some bad. The bullpen has been a part of both, but you see growth with these guys every day.”

Called up in place of the injured Jesse Crain, Dylan Axelrod became the fifth Sox bullpen pitcher with 50 or fewer days in the major leagues to pitch for the team in 2012. Axelrod will most likely stay with the team until Crain returns from the DL after May 5.

The White Sox look to end their 4-game slide as they face the Red Sox.

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.

CHICAGO -- Throwing the first pitch at Wrigley Field last week prior a Chicago Cubs game was a thrill for Illinois-Chicago coach and Chicago native Howard Moore.

But Moore admitted with him being a Chicago White Sox fan, it was a slightly bigger deal to throw the first pitch at U.S. Cellular Field prior to the White Sox’s game against the Boston Red Sox on Friday.

“I’ve always rooted for the Cubs,” said Moore, who will enter his third season at UIC. “I don’t hate the Cubs, but I’m just a little bit more favored toward the Sox.

“You grow up in the city; you’re like, ‘How often do you have an opportunity to do both ballparks in one week?’ It’s great. I love it being a Chicagoan, growing up loving both and kind of growing toward the Sox as I got older. It’s a great thing.”

What got Moore to lean toward the White Sox as a youngster was an incentive by the Chicago Public Schools.

“Growing up, the public schools always gave free tickets to kids with perfect attendance back in the 80s. As a kid, my carrot was to go to school to get perfect attendance every year, so I could get my White Sox tickets. That’s what sucked me in. When you talk about winning ugly season in ’83, I was hooked.”

Friday marked the second time Howard threw out the first pitch at U.S. Cellular Field. What made his first time especially memorable was meeting his childhood hero Harold Baines.

“He’s on my Mount Rushmore of sports heroes,” Moore said. “They had a surprise for me. They walked me right up to him and said, ‘Coach, we want you to say hello to Harold.’ I was 10 years old again. It was great.”

Most baseball experts were ready to hand the AL Central championship to the Detroit Tigers in spring training, but Chicago White Sox captain Paul Konerko believes that his team can play with Detroit.

“The key for us is that we came out of the gate with a really good approach on how to attack every day and guys have bought in to it,” Konerko said.

Although the White Sox entered Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox on a three-game losing streak, Chicago has stayed with the Tigers in the standings. Nonetheless, Konerko warns that any letdown in effort could be an obstacle for this young group.

“That’s the challenge,” Konerko said, “It can be easy to come in and not do the stuff we have been doing as the season wears on. It’s also easy to start thinking big thoughts that we are ‘in it’ now. That’s not how we are going to be successful.”

The White Sox added their fifth bullpen pitcher who has spent less than 50 days in the major leagues when Dylan Axelrod was called up from the minors to replace the injured Jesse Crain. Youth movement or not, Konerko, who hit his 400th career home run in Oakland this week, feels this team has plenty of talent to stay the course of a long season.

“There is a plan and the coaches are on board setting up the plan for those [young] guys,” he said. “Even when we are blown out all these guys can feel like they had put an honest day of work in and then you come back the next day ready to fight again.”

Konerko has certainly done his share of the heavy lifting, hitting .372 with five home runs and 15 RBIs entering Friday.

CHICAGO -- Boston Red Sox veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd can remember a time not so long where 400 career home runs represented a monumental achievement.

From the time Byrd was born in 1977 to when Byrd entered high school, a total of nine players entered the 400-home run club. When Andre Dawson hit his 400th homer on April 15, 1993, he was only the 25th player ever to reach the mark. At that time, there had been just 15 players with 500 home runs.

Dawson remained the only new member of the 400 club for more than five years. On April 5, 1998, Mark McGwire became the 26th player to join.

McGwire was just the start. From McGwire to the end of the 2010 season, 23 players hit their 400th career home run, and 15 players entered the 500 club.

With the home run boom, 400 didn’t seem like such a historical number any longer. When the 2012 season began, there were 47 players who had achieved it.

“Probably 10-15 years ago if you hit 400 home runs, it was an automatic to Cooperstown,” Byrd said. “The steroid era has changed that, changed that number to 500.”

So when the Chicago White Sox’s Paul Konerko rounded the bases Thursday against the Oakland Athletics after hitting his 400th home run, he didn’t receive the fanfare that was once given to the achievement. White Sox fans treated him to a standing ovation before his first at-bat Friday, but that was it.

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Chicago White Sox closer Hector Santiago has been getting hit on a regular basis, and some baseball people believe he is tipping his pitches.

"I went into the video room with some of the coaches and it is clear I must be doing something to be giving my stuff away," Santiago told ESPNChicago.com on Friday. "
We will come up with a plan.

"We have some of the (teammates ) that told me I may be tipping something, hopefully we can solve it and get it out of the way soon."

Santiago blew a save in the 14th inning in Oakland on Wednesday as a 4-2 lead turned into a 5-4 loss.

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