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TORONTO -- The Chicago White Sox have struggled at the plate and at delivering quality starting pitching performances. Yet despite these large issues, the team has had opportunities to win almost every game this season. Eleven of the club's 13 games have been decided by three runs or less and Chicago leads the league with seven one-run games.

The biggest reason for all these nail-biters? The Sox's bullpen, which already seems to be in midseason form as the lineup and rotation try to gain its footing. Monday's 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays was just the latest example after starter Gavin Floyd allowed four runs in his 4 1/3 innings of work, Hector Santiago, Matt Lindstrom and Donnie Veal held Toronto scoreless the rest of the way.

"They do a good job. For us, even last year, this is the kind of baseball we play and they're used to it," manager Robin Ventura said. "It being a close game, I don't think that's an issue. They're just going out to pitch and give us a chance."

Chicago's bullpen has a combined 1.79 ERA this season, topped only by the first-place Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics among all major league teams. The issue, of course, is that the Sox relievers are often coming into the game after damage has already been done. The White Sox starting rotation has a combined ERA of 5.03, and the difference between the starters and relievers is the third-largest such gap in the league. The Minnesota Twins' bullpen ERA is 3.44 runs better than their starting counterparts while the St. Louis Cardinals have the opposite problem, as their rotation has a 2.13 ERA while their bullpen's ERA stands at 5.92.

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TORONTO -- Chicago White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper will rejoin the club on Friday when the White Sox open a 10-game homestand at U.S. Cellular Field. Cooper was hospitalized on April 9 with a bout of diverticulitis and has been in Chicago receiving further tests since Saturday.

Bobby Thigpen has filled in for Cooper as pitching coach during his absence while bullpen catcher Mark Salas has temporarily taken over Thigpen's usual role as bullpen coach.

Cooper, 56, has been the White Sox pitching coach since July 2002. He briefly served as the team's manager during the final two games of the 2011 season after Ozzie Guillen left for the Florida Marlins.

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TORONTO -- Gavin Floyd has not enjoyed much help from his offense this season but the pitcher is also not doing much to help his own cause. Floyd dropped to 0-3 in three starts after struggling through a 4 1/3-inning outing on Monday against the Blue Jays, allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks.

Two of Toronto's runs came via sacrifice flies and two came on solo homers from J.P. Arencibia and Maicer Izturis. Floyd's main issue was that he couldn't locate his pitches with much movement.

"He was up. For the first couple of innings, everything was kind of up in the zone and they didn't miss," manager Robin Ventura said.

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TORONTO -- After 12 seasons of seeing Mark Buehrle work his magic in Chicago, it was perhaps fitting that the veteran southpaw delivered what manager Robin Ventura called "a clinic" now that Buehrle was finally an opposing pitcher.

Buehrle led his Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 win over the Sox with his signature array of off-speed pitches that left Chicago's lineup feeling like they could've done more.

It was a classic bend-but-don't-break outing from Buehrle, who allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings. The Sox struck quickly in the first, delivering four singles and scoring twice, but couldn't put any more runs on the board despite putting at least one baserunner on in all but one of Buehrle's innings.

"Once he got through that first inning it kind of became a clinic on hitting spots, changing speeds. You've seen this his whole career," Ventura said. "He's a smart pitcher who used our aggressiveness at times, hit spots, added a little, took a little off. ... You can sit there and stay patient all you want, but he's the kind of guy who senses when you're patient and then throws a fastball in there that you think you should hit. That's when it gets frustrating as a hitter. He just frustrated a lot of guys today, teasing them with a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

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TORONTO -- Here's a quick look at how the Chicago White Sox lost 4-3 to Mark Buehrle and the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday at Rogers Centre.

How it happened: Paul Konerko and Dayan Viciedo delivered RBI singles in the first inning, highlighting a four-hit frame that gave Chicago an early 2-0 lead. From there, however, the White Sox couldn't muster anything else against Buehrle despite a total of nine hits against their former ace in his 6 1/3 innings of work. Alexei Ramirez drove in Chicago's only other run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

What it means: The White Sox fall to 0-6 in night games this season and 1-6 on the road. The defeat also continues their lengthy run of poor results in Toronto --- the Sox are now 7-19 over their last 26 games at Rogers Centre. It was the 11th time in 13 games for Chicago this season that the final score was decided by three runs or less. Starter Gavin Floyd now has a 6.25 ERA in 10 career games (eight of them starts) against the Blue Jays.

Outside the box: Floyd was trying to rebound after a tough outing against Washington in his last start but again ran into trouble. Spotted a 2-0 lead after the top of the first, Floyd promptly allowed Toronto to tie the score on a sacrifice fly and then J.P. Arencibia's solo blast over the right field wall. Floyd lasted only 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks, striking out six. He left the game in the fifth with the bases loaded but Hector Santiago induced a grounder from Izturis for the double play to escape the jam.

Offbeat: Alex Rios went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, continuing his history of success against his former team. Heading into Monday's game, Rios was hitting .290/.305/.570 with six home runs in 93 career at-bats against the Blue Jays. Though it has been over three years since Rios played for the Jays, Rios received his usual heavy round of booing from the Rogers Centre fans for his perceived lackadaisical attitude when he played for Toronto.

Up next: The White Sox continue their series in Toronto when they face the Blue Jays at 6:07 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Right-hander Dylan Axelrod (0-1, 5.79 ERA) takes the hill for Chicago against Jays right-hander Josh Johnson (0-1, 11.05 ERA).

TORONTO -- It will be odd enough for the Chicago White Sox to face long-time former teammate Mark Buehrle when he takes the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, but for the Sox, it may be strange just to be facing a left-handed pitcher of any sort.

Buehrle is just the second lefty starter the White Sox have faced this season, an unlikely quirk of the schedule given how this is already Chicago's 13th game. The club's only prior matchup against a left-handed starter came when they faced the Washington Nationals' Gio Gonzalez on April 9. Gonzalez held the Sox to a run and four hits over five innings in the Nationals' 8-7 victory.

"You get into a rhythm, just like pitchers who face one whole lineup of righties," Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "You try and get locked into swinging a certain way when you finally see a lefty. Hopefully it's good for us."

The White Sox could use any kind of different look to spark their offense. They entered Monday hitting .242 on the season (10th in the American League) and a major league-worst .273 team on-base percentage. Paul Konerko and Dayan Viciedo, both right-handed hitters, have gotten off to slow starts and could particularly benefit from facing a southpaw.

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CLEVELAND -- The Chicago White Sox will be greeted by a familiar face today as former teammate Mark Buehrle will take the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Buehrle is one of the most celebrated pitchers in Sox history with a World Series ring, perfect game and another no-hitters on his resume.

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CLEVELAND -- A first-pitch home run by Cleveland's Michael Bourn was all White Sox starting pitcher Jake Peavy yielded as the Sox snapped a five-game losing streak.

After the top of the Chicago line-up went down in order, Peavy fired a first-pitch fastball to Bourn which was promptly placed in the White Sox bullpen 390 feet down the right field line. From there, the former Cy Young winner would cruise through seven innings, striking out 11 batters, while walking none, in a 3-1 victory over the Tribe.

"I didn't expect Bourn to swing there," Peavy said of the first-pitch home run. "He got me. It was my fault, totally. Thankfully, we had a good game plan -- Tyler (Flowers) called an outstanding game, we had a big hit by (Paul Konerko) -- to get us a much-needed win."

Peavy recorded his second win of the season thanks to the seven-inning masterpiece. While he has struck out 10 batters 31 other times, this was only the third time he had done so while allowing zero bases on balls.

Eleven of the White Sox's 12 games this season have been decided by three-or-fewer runs, so the first-pitch home run could have set the tone for another long day. Peavy, however, settled in and used both sides of the plate.

"You hate to do that," Peavy said of the home run. "We needed to win, we understood that. I know I needed to come up with a big effort. To start the game like that after what we have been through is not ideal, for sure, but I knew that I needed to bear down and keep it right there. We knew it was going to be tight, and after those first few innings that it was going to shake out to be a tight ball game as it was. Fortunately, we came out on the right side of things."

White Sox manager Robin Ventura was pleased with his starting pitcher's seven-inning effort, especially after Chicago ace Chris Sale was chased after 4 1/3 innings a day earlier.

"You give up a home run on the first pitch of the game -- you bear down and it's one of those where he's just trying to get ahead in the game -- and you get ambushed a bit, said Ventura. "It wakes you up pretty quick. But it was what we needed, too."

CLEVELAND — Seven strong innings from Jake Peavy coupled with home runs from Paul Konerko and Alejandro De Aza helped the White Sox fuel a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday afternoon.

How it happened: After Chicago starting pitcher Jake Peavy allowed a first pitch home run to Indians center fielder Michael Bourn, he settled in to dominate for much of the afternoon, striking out 11 batters and walking none. Cleveland starter Brett Myers went six innings, but allowed a two-out, two-run home run to Paul Konerko. Alejandro De Aza followed with a home run of his own, a 410-foot blast off Cleveland's Vinnie Pestano in the eighth inning. White Sox relievers Matt Thornton and Addison Reed combined to throw two scoreless innings of relief. Reed secured his fourth save of 2013.

What it means: The White Sox avoid an 0-6 start on the road and head to Toronto with a little momentum. Peavy's seven innings allowed manager Robin Ventura to let his bullpen rest after being overused in Washington and on Saturday night in Cleveland. Eleven of the team's 12 games this season have been decided by three or fewer runs. The Sox are 1-1 in two-run games.

Outside the box: This was Jake Peavy's 32nd career game where he struck out at least 10 batters, but just the third where he walked zero. He struck out 11 while walking zero on June 30 of 2012, but the result was a 4-0 complete game loss to the New York Yankees. He goes to 5-3 on his career against the Indians. Also, White Sox third baseman Connor Gallaspie went 5-for-11 on the series, raising his average on the season to .444.

Offbeat: Paul Konerko continues to terrorize the Cleveland Indians. In 230 games against the Tribe, he is the active leader in home runs (47) and runs batted in (173). In 17 games against Cleveland in 2012 alone, Konerko hit .328 with three home runs and 15 RBI.

Up next: The White Sox road trip heads across the border to Toronto as Gavin Floyd (0-2, 5.56 ERA) will take the hill against long-time Chicago starting pitcher Mark Buehrle (0-0, 10.24 ERA).

CLEVELAND -- The Chicago White Sox have placed infielder Angel Sanchez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained lower back and purchased the contract of infielder Tyler Greene from Triple-A Charlotte.

Sanchez has appeared in one game and is hitless in two at-bats. The move is retroactive to Wednesday.

Greene was released by Houston in spring training and signed to a minor league contract by the White Sox on April 4. He was batting .265 in eight games with Charlotte. Greene, taken by St. Louis in the first round of the 2005 draft, is a career .224 hitter in four seasons.

Left-hander Charlie Leesman was designated for assignment Sunday to make room for Greene on the 40-man roster. Leesman pitched at Charlotte last season and is currently coming back from knee surgery.

CLEVELAND -- With the Chicago White Sox looking to fight off their second-consecutive sweep, manager Robin Ventura remains confident that his team is not pressing at the plate and will start to win games as they had during the first week.

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CLEVELAND -- Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale set out to be the stopper, be the man to stop his team’s current four-game skid and do so against a divisional opponent.

Instead, the 6-foot-6 Cy Young hopeful left Cleveland with his worst outing as a professional, allowing eight earned runs in 4.1 innings and earning his first loss of the season, as the White Sox fell 9-4 to the Indians.

The end result elicited plenty of self-deprecation, with Sale referring to the outing as “terrible” and to himself as “an idiot.”

“It was just leaving bad pitches to good hitters,” Sale said of Saturday’s loss. “Nothing more than a terrible, terrible day. Our team needed a better effort and deserved a better effort. I didn’t give it to them tonight.”

Sale came into the contest with not only a strong career track record, but one of relative dominance against the Indians. Saturday marked his first career loss to the Tribe, having gone 2-0 with an ERA of 2.29 in his previous three starts. Before being converted to a starter, Sale recorded three saves across 11 relief appearances.

Conversely, Indians starting pitcher Zach McAllister -- a player with a considerably less dominating reputation --pitched into the seventh inning for his first victory of the season, striking out six and walking just one.

Though Sale’s previous two starts went at least seven innings, Saturday afternoon saw a different pitcher -- one who seemingly could not locate any of his pitches, all of which started to appear the same as the game drew on.

“I think you start watching replays of it and you see him being in the middle of the plate a lot,” said White Sox manager Robin Ventura of Sale’s outing. “There wasn’t much difference between his changeup and some of the fastballs he was running in there. You get it over the middle of the plate and [the Indians] have some guys who can swing the bat. They didn’t miss.”

In his four-plus innings of work, Sale allowed eight hits, two of which were home runs that would net the Indians six runs. After he was provided a two-run cushion in the first inning, Sale gave up a home run to Cleveland’s designated hitter Nick Swisher, the veteran’s first homer of the year.

In the fifth inning, after allowing a single to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and a double to second baseman Ryan Raburn, Sale hit Swisher in the leg with a backdoor slider to load the bases. The slider would come back to haunt Sale once again, as he would hang one in the middle of the plate, allowing Cleveland first baseman Mark Reynolds to hit his second career grand slam.

Though the mid-April weather in Cleveland left a lot to be desired on the day -- pelting fans and players with rain and sleet through various innings -- Sale was not going to make excuses for his poor outing.

“I didn’t think I had too much of anything today,” Sale said. “It was a grind. McAllister came out and did what he had to do. I’m not here to make excuses. I didn’t do what I had to do to get it done. I just have to do work these next four days and do everything I can to change this."

In the middle of the fifth inning, Sale was given a warning by home plate umpire Ed Hickox after he hit Indians left fielder Michael Brantley with a fastball immediately after the grand slam by Reynolds. It was his second hit batter of the inning.

Sale, well aware of the recent consternation throughout the league when it comes to hit batters and retribution, was adamant that he did not hit Brantley intentionally, but that he overthrew the fastball out of frustration.

“With Swisher, it was just a slider I yanked in,” said Sale. “Brantley was just me being an idiot, honestly -- just me trying to throw it by him. You had some things happen in that previous inning, I was just trying to go out there and be more, be better than I am. Unfortunately, it got away and it hit him.”

“I understand it’s a difficult spot to be in,” he said. “If you’re going to hit a guy, you don’t do it there. I think I know enough about the game, if I was going to do it intentionally, it’s not going to be in that situation or at that time. Not only does it look bad on my part, but it looks bad on the team. That’s not what I’m about or what we’re about.

“On top of that, you now have targets on some of these guys in here, and it’s not their fault I gave up eight runs today. It’s not their fault that grand slam left the yard. It’s on me. All that said, I had no intentions of doing that, and I don’t think I ever will.”

CLEVELAND -- Home runs off the bats of Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds and Yan Gomes paved the way as the Cleveland Indians topped the Chicago White Sox 9-4.

How it happened: White Sox starter Chris Sale lasted just 4 1/3 innings after allowing eight earned runs. Sale was provided two runs of support in the first, but a two-run home run from designated hitter Nick Swisher in the bottom of the first would quickly erase the early lead. The wheels would completely fall off for Sale in the fifth inning, as he loaded the bases on two base hits and a hit batter. A grand slam off of the bat of Indians’ first baseman Mark Reynolds and another hit batter would seal his fate. He struck out just three batters while walking two. Indians starting pitcher Zach McAllister dominated the White Sox through his 6 1/3 innings of work, striking out six and walking none while allowing one earned run. Alejandro De Aza took a full-count pitch from Tribe reliever Bryan Shaw 408 feet to right field for his second home run of the season.

What it means: The White Sox have now dropped their fifth straight game and will remain at the bottom of the AL Central. Manager Robin Ventura had recently praised his veteran position players for not panicking early in the season, but Chicago cannot seem to find an answer when it comes to consistent starting pitching. Left-hander Jose Quintana is the only pitcher to get out of the sixth inning in the team’s past four games.

Outside the box: The eight earned runs by Sale sets his career-worst mark (32 starts). He had allowed five runs in four different starts in 2012. It also marks an end to the dominant streak against the Indians. In his three previous starts, Sale had a record of 2-0, striking out 37 batters in just 34.1 innings of work. After allowing the grand slam to Reynolds, Sale hit Indians left fielder Michael Brantley with a pitch. He would receive a warning from home plate umpire Ed Hickox.

Offbeat: White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers went 0-for-4 on the afternoon, failing to get a ball out of the infield while striking out three times. He has not recorded a hit in his past 21 at-bats. Flowers undoubtedly has power; but his long swing, coupled with not playing every day, has led to little success through the early portion of the 2013 season.

Up next: The White Sox will look to avoid their second-consecutive sweep, closing out their three-game series against the Indians on Sunday afternoon at 12:05 CT. Jake Peavy (1-1, 5.56 ERA) will square off against former Chicago relief pitcher Brett Myers (0-1, 12.19 ERA).

CLEVELAND -- With the season still young and the weather still cold, All-Star first baseman Paul Konerko will be the White Sox designated hitter on Saturday afternoon as they look to even up their series with the Cleveland Indians. The team’s usual designated hitter, Adam Dunn, will play first base in Konerko’s absence.

“With the weather and everything, for [Konerko], it’s easier to keep him loose,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of his slight lineup change. “He had mentioned it earlier in Chicago, so we will go with it today -- maybe tomorrow, I don’t know.”

Konerko, at times, feels that his approach at the plate can be impacted negatively if he is forced to lead off an inning after being sedentary in the field for any considerable amount of time. A career .283 hitter, Konerko’s batting average when leading off an inning in 2013 is .091. In 2012, these averages were .298 and .263, respectively.

In Konerko’s place, Ventura will play Dunn, a player who he feels is more than capable of filling in for the six-time All-Star as he has two other times in this young season.

“Paul has played first base more, so he’s probably better at picking balls out of the dirt and stuff like that,” Ventura said. “Adam, as big as he is, he’s athletic enough to feel comfortable over there once he’s been over there enough. In part of spring training, we had him playing over there quite a bit.”

Dunn, who can also play left field when needed, could also be called upon to fill in given that the team is carrying only four outfielders on the 25-man roster and used the roster spot vacated by Gordon Beckham (wrist) to add an arm in the bullpen.

“I think where we are at now, if we need to start moving people around, [Dunn] is the option to go out there,” Ventura said of left field. “I don’t see it being like this for a month, but right now, it works.”