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CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox's losing streak reached four games, three of which were at home, after a 3-2 defeat to the Cleveland Indians on Monday at U.S. Cellular Field.

How it happened: The White Sox aren’t getting much offense and what they are getting isn’t holding up. Clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Matt Thornton gave up an infield single and a walk followed by a wild pickoff throw to second base that put runners in scoring position. Asdrubal Cabrera made him pay with a go-ahead two-run single. For the second consecutive day a solid start was wasted, this time from Dylan Axelrod, who gave up one run on three hits over six innings.

What it means: The bullpen coughed up the lead for the second consecutive game as suddenly the most consistent part of the team is wavering. After giving up a four-run inning Sunday, the bullpen went from the best ERA in the American League to the second best at 2.22. The bullpen still entered with the best opponents’ batting average at .183. It stands to reason, though, that if the relievers are pitching in tight games every night it’s not always going to end as planned. A member of the bullpen has taken the loss in each of the three games of the homestand.

Outside the box: The White Sox have been in nearly all of their games this season, they just can finish the deal. Of their 19 games so far, a whopping 17 have been decided by three runs or less. The White Sox are 4-6 in one-run games, 1-3 in two-run games and 1-2 in three-run games. Their record on the season fell to 7-12.

Off beat: Nobody disputes the value of groundskeeper Roger Bossard, but his field pulled a fast one on left fielder Alejandro De Aza. The Indians’ Lonnie Chisenhall hit a ball to shallow left in the second inning and before De Aza could get a glove on it, the ball took a wild hop to his right. It was originally ruled an RBI single and an error, but changed to a double when replays showed the bad hop.

Up next: The White Sox will send left-hander Jose Quintana (1-0, 2.55 ERA) to the mound Tuesday against the Indians in the middle game of the three-game series. Cleveland will counter with right-hander Zach McAllister (1-2, 3.12) in the 7:10 p.m. start from U.S. Cellular Field.

CHICAGO -- Mired in a horrendous slump of his own, Adam Dunn did not hold back when asked about his team’s poor record.

“We can’t play any worse than we are now,” Dunn said before the Chicago White Sox's Monday matchup against the Cleveland Indians. “Obviously we are getting good pitching. Other than that -- terrible.”

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CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura moved to distance himself from a curious play in Sunday’s defeat to the Minnesota Twins.

In the fourth inning with the left-handed hitting Adam Dunn at the plate, Alex Rios attempted to steal third base. Not only did Dunn strike out, but Rios was thrown out on the double play to end the inning.

“He was just going; it was just one of those where he did it,” Ventura said. “I'd rather that not happen. If he's going to steal he needs to know he needs to get it. I had nothing to do it.”

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CHICAGO -- It looks like former Chicago White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker will be coming to the rescue of Gordon Beckham.

Walker doesn't have magic healing solutions for Beckham and the broken bone in his hand, nor will he be offering hitting advice, but Walker will help his former pupil to walk down the aisle this fall. When Beckham gets married in November, Walker will be one of the groomsmen.

"Gordon called me and asked me to be a groomsman and I told him that I thought 53-year-olds were too old to be doing that but he insisted so we'll be at that wedding this winter," Walker said Saturday on ESPN Chicago 1000's "Talkin' Baseball."

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CHICAGO -- While John Danks' return remains in question, Gordon Beckham said Monday that he at least has a personal timetable for getting back to the Chicago White Sox.

"If I'm not playing in the big leagues in six weeks, I'm going to be very upset, let's put it that way," said Beckham, who broke the hamate bone in his left hand April 9 and had surgery last Tuesday. "I've kind of made a mental goal that I want to be back in four.

"There are people who have done that. But I would like to be playing in four weeks and be back way before the six-week mark. But I don't know. That's just Dr. Gordon talking. He doesn't know anything what he's talking about."

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CHICAGO -- There remains no timetable on Dayan Viciedo's return from the disabled list because of an oblique strain, but perhaps the Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman can give clues as to how long the Chicago White Sox left fielder might be sidelined.

Freeman reportedly will come off the disabled list today after also being out of action with an oblique strain.

Everybody is different, not to mention the difference in severity of injuries, but similarities do exist. The left-handed swinging Freeman injured his right side, while the right-handed hitting Viciedo injured his left side.

Freeman felt discomfort as far back as March 31 but was still swinging a hot bat before the Braves decided to put him on the DL on April 7. That makes it exactly three weeks from the onset of the injury to his return from the DL.

Viciedo's injury was different in that he wasn't experiencing discomfort for a while before he was shut down. Not being able to play for a week before going on the DL, like Freeman did, could suggest that Viciedo's injury was more severe.

Both Freeman and Viciedo had similar reactions to their injuries with each saying they didn't think things were serious.

General manager Rick Hahn already has suggested Viciedo will spend more than 15 days on the DL. He hasn't played since Thursday, which would make him eligible to return May 4 at Kansas City. Viciedo won't even begin baseball activities until the end of the week.

Following a three-week timetable, there is a chance Viciedo could be back for the May 10-12 home series against the Los Angeles Angels. Any longer could put his return during a two-city trip that begins May 13 in Minnesota and heads to Southern California for a series against the Angels.

Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd remains winless after Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins, despite pitching well enough to win.

Floyd was removed after the Sox scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but reliever Matt Lindstrom surrendered the tying run to Minnesota in the seventh, leaving Floyd with a no-decision.

The start was Floyd’s best of the young season, as he allowed one run on four hits.

“The one thing he did well today was command his fastball from the beginning of the game,” catcher Tyler Flowers said about his battery mate. “We were able to get ahead of a lot of guys and go to the off-speed stuff against their left-handed hitters.”

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CHICAGO -- Despite Sunday’s 5-3 defeat to the Minnesota Twins, two Chicago White Sox hitters in deep slumps showed signs of life.

Adam Dunn snapped a 31 at-bat hitless streak with a solo home run in the seventh inning, while Jeff Keppinger managed to drive in two runs while actually extending his hitless run to 24 consecutive at-bats.

Keppinger drove in the White Sox’ s first run with a fourth-inning ground out, and brought home the second run in the sixth inning on a fly ball to center field.

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CHICAGO -- Things are going so poorly for the Chicago White Sox right now that even one of the reliable portions of the roster stumbled on Sunday.

The American League’s best bullpen over the first three weeks of the season blew a tire, giving up a four-run seventh inning that led to a 5-3 defeat against the weak-hitting Minnesota Twins. The lineup The Twins used had four hitters batting .208 or less and six at .225 or lower.

Matt Lindstrom, Donnie Veal and Jesse Crain combined to allow all four runs in the seventh inning as Gavin Floyd was left with a no-decision after giving up just one run and three hits over six innings.

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CHICAGO -- Against a Minnesota Twins lineup that had six players batting .225 or less, the Chicago White Sox were defeated 5-3 in the series finale.

How it happened: Normally dependable, the White Sox’s bullpen couldn’t support a solid outing from Gavin Floyd. Matt Lindstrom, Donnie Veal and Jesse Crain combined to give up four runs in the seventh inning after Floyd completed a day when he gave up one run over six innings. The Twins’ Aaron Hicks, who entered batting .042, drove in the first run of the seventh on a single, while Josh Willingham, batting .225 at the outset, delivered a three-run triple off Crain in the inning. White Sox relievers started the day leading the American League with a 1.63 ERA and a .177 opponents' batting average.

What it means: Runs continue to be hard to come by for the White Sox, who have now scored three times or less in eight of their 18 games this season. Three of the first five hitters in the White Sox lineup Sunday were batting .227 at the start of the game or less, including the first two, Alejandro De Aza and Jeff Keppinger. De Aza and Keppinger managed to deliver, though, as Keppinger brought home De Aza twice, even though it was on outs both times, with a ground out in the fourth inning and a fly ball in the sixth.

Outside the box: While it wasn’t enough to end talk of a slump, Adam Dunn did hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to snap an 0-for-31 dry spell. He had one hit in his previous 39 at-bats before going deep. Going back to Saturday’s game, Dunn had struck out five times in six trips to the plate against the Twins before hitting his home run off of reliever Josh Roenicke, his third of the season. He later struck out to end the game.

Off beat: On the one-year anniversary of Philip Humber's perfect game in Seattle last season, Floyd actually retired the first seven batters he faced before a walk to Hicks. Floyd didn’t give up his first hit until Willingham touched him for a single with one out in the fourth inning. After giving up a combined nine runs over his last two starts, Floyd’s outing Sunday was his best of his four appearances this season. He gave up just three hits to go along with the one run he allowed.

Up next: The White Sox will send right-hander Dylan Axelrod (0-1, 4.70 ERA) to the mound Monday against Cleveland in the opener of a three-game series. The Indians will counter with right-hander Justin Masterson (3-1, 1.67) in the 7:10 p.m. start from U.S. Cellular Field.

CHICAGO -- Once the seas finally parted for Conor Gillaspie, the former first-round pick in the 2008 draft took complete advantage of the situation.

One of the White Sox’s modest under-the-radar pickups between the end of last season and the start of this one, Gillaspie has started to move himself into the spotlight with solid play both offensively and defensively.

When spring training started, though, Gillaspie had nowhere to go. As a member of the San Francisco Giants organization he spent brief stretches in the major leagues but had been blocked by regular Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval.

So the White Sox moved in not long after players started arriving into spring camps and plucked Gillaspie away from the Giants in exchange for pitcher Jeff Soptic, currently 2-0 at Single-A San Jose, but with a 7.36 ERA after eight appearances.

“I never really worried too much about it honestly,” said Gillaspie, who said that getting out from behind Sandoval’s shadow gave him a small sense of freedom. “It’s not really worth it. Life’s too short to worry about a bunch of things you don’t have control over. You just have to just enjoy it. Enjoy the rise.”

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CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox starting pitcher John Danks returned to the team from extended spring training and will be evaluated over the next week.

Danks, who had shoulder surgery in August 2012, has been pitching against minor league players at the White Sox spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz. since the team broke camp on March 28. In his latest outing on Saturday, Danks pitched six innings with his fastball consistently maintaining velocity levels of 88 mph.

“I am better than I was the last time I was here (two weeks ago),” Danks said on Sunday. “I am seeing improvements each time out. I am ready to get out of Arizona.”

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CHICAGO -- Despite his struggles and the fact that the Chicago White Sox are facing a left-handed pitcher on Sunday, Adam Dunn is back in the lineup, batting from the fifth spot.

Dunn is in a 1-for-37 slide and went 0-for-4 on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins with three strikeouts.

The White Sox will be facing Twins left-hander Scott Diamond on Sunday and his relatively small sample size against Dunn could have contributed to manager Robin Ventura putting his struggling slugger back in the lineup. Dunn is 3-for-10 (.300) in his career against Diamond with a home run and three RBIs.

“You can think about anything, but for us to turn around and start playing better, he's going to have to get some hits and be part of that, part of the answer,” Ventura said when asked if he considered giving Dunn a rest Sunday.

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CHICAGO -- The lack of run support for Jake Peavy on Saturday was reminiscent of times during his 2012 season. The White Sox veteran had nothing to show for the seven innings of one-run, six-hit baseball he pitched against the Minnesota Twins. The no-decision was the result of another lethargic offensive day by his teammates.

"We said from the first homestand that we are going to live and die with the home run,“ Peavy said. “There are times when we won’t hit it; those are the times you are going to get beat. It is going to come, and we are going to hit some homers. The big boys are going to get going.”

Chicago has been in a season-long funk with runners in scoring position (17-99 for a .172 batting average, the lowest in the AL). Adam Dunn continued his recent slump, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Dunn is one for his past 37, however, no one did much after Alejandro De Aza’s home run to lead off the White Sox first inning.

Peavy acknowledged that he was better equipped to deal with a lack of run support than some of his younger teammates.

“I would rather it be me than [Jose] Quintana or [Chris] Sale or somebody that has not been through it,” Peavy said. “I have really pitched my whole career in tight ballgames. You go back and look at some of those years in San Diego -- I didn’t have a lot of run support. I am fine with it and okay with pitching in tight games. I appreciate [manager Robin Ventura leaving me in some big situations]."

Peavy went through the entire 2012 season with a small amount of runs scored behind him. His offense gave him the fourth-fewest runs scored per outing for a starting pitcher in the league last season. Fourteen of the club's first 17 games have been decided by three runs or less.

“It was a wasted outing for Jake," first baseman Paul Konerko said in reference to his team’s offensive struggles. “The work is there, the approach is good. Everything is in the right place. It just hasn’t happened yet. We just have to keep grinding.”

Peavy has been dominant against Minnesota the past two seasons, lowering his ERA to 1.64 in his past five starts against the Twins.

“When you start a game and your team loses, it is not fun,“ he said. “I believe we will find a way. We went through some rough stretches last year, and, hopefully, we can right the ship sooner or later.“

CHICAGO -- Already without the injured Dayan Viciedo and Gordon Beckham, the Chicago White Sox are now dealing with another hole in the batting order.

Adam Dunn is in the midst of a free fall that has taken his batting average under the .100 mark and has contributed heavily to the team's overall offensive inconsistencies.

With an 0-for-4 game in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by the Minnesota Twins -- not to mention three more strikeouts to boot -- Dunn has just six hits in 61 at-bats this season and practically nothing for the past two weeks. Starting with the White Sox’s game at Washington on April 10, Dunn has gone 1-for-37.

And while it’s true that slumps to start the season are magnified, an .027 batting average over any 10-game sample would be cause for alarm. Going back even further, Dunn has just four hits with 21 strikeouts over his past 54 at-bats.

“Today aside, I don’t feel terrible up there,” Dunn said. “Obviously, the results aren’t there, and this is a result-oriented game. That’s the first thing people think is that there’s something wrong. I don’t feel bad. You just can’t let it snowball and get in your head and start trying to get four hits on one at-bat.”

While any replacement off the bench figures to produce more than Dunn is offering right now, the White Sox need their power hitter to generate the type of run production he is capable of if they want to be the team they envision. So while a day off here and there could be coming, the team is not about to quit on him now.

Teammates note that Dunn is in a good frame of mind, he just continues to be in another one of those ruts that big power, high strikeout guys like him can get into. Dunn’s ruts just seem to be bigger than most.

“Adam’s not one to really press too much,” said Paul Konerko, who is the yin to Dunn’s yang in that Konerko overanalyzes most everything. “He’s handled it well. He’s been through this stuff before. And a guy like him, I mean, two games and he can get it all back. I’m not saying you want to do that, but when you can do what he can do, you can kind of jump back into the ballgame quick when you can do what he can do with the bat.”

It remains to be seen what manager Robin Ventura does with Sunday’s lineup. Dunn has sat out just once this season, when the White Sox were in Washington on the just-concluded road trip and the DH spot wasn’t available.

The White Sox will be facing Minnesota Twins left-hander Scott Diamond on Sunday, and it could be a good opportunity to get the left-handed-swinging Dunn a break to clear his mind.

“I think he’s frustrated; anybody would be,” Ventura said. “It’s just one of those where you just got to keep grinding through it, and he’ll eventually get through it. It’s just one of those where both teams had a big [strike] zone today.

“It’s a frustrating day, but I think it’s one of those that he’ll just keep grinding and get out of it. But this is the tough part. This is not the time for guys to start thinking about other things. Just go out and try to do things to help your team win instead of thinking about little individual stuff.”

Plate umpire C.B. Bucknor had such a liberal strike zone that 10 separate times he called out a player looking at strike three. There were 22 strikeouts in the game, with the White Sox striking out 13 times.

Dunn struck out looking two times with his other strikeout coming when he failed to check his swing. He made no excuses, though.

“When you’re getting pitches to hit you need to hit them and not put yourself in that situation,” Dunn said. “When we got some pitches to hit, we didn’t do it.”