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ARLINGTON, Texas -- The second inning began like it was going to be Chris Sale's downfall. Instead, it became a momentum-builder.

Sale was roughed up in the second stanza for four hits, including a home run. He also walked a batter.

Yet he escaped allowing only two runs.

Given new life, the left-hander with a mid-90s fastball breezed from there, shutting out the Texas Rangers over his final five innings in a 5-2 victory for the Chicago White Sox.

"The turning point was that second inning," Sale, who improved to 3-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.83, said. "Something I’ve had to learn is the game isn’t over in the second inning.

“I came out of that inning feeling strong mentally. I just kept pushing until the bullpen took over, and those guys kept it right where it was."

Some of the damage in the second inning came from the Rangers hitting good pitches.

"But a couple were bad pitches," Sale admitted.

Jeff Baker drove Sale’s low breaking ball over the left-field wall an estimated 393 feet to cut the White Sox lead to 2-1. A walk and singles by Geovany Soto and Craig Gentry loaded the bases. Ian Kinsler drilled a Sale pitch off the left-field wall, but due to a baserunning error by Soto, the Rangers produced only one score.

With a two-run lead gone and the bases loaded, Sale went to work. He struck out Elvis Andrus for the second out after a long battle and induced Lance Berkman into a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop.

He went on to retire 10 Rangers in a row at one point.

"For him to come out of that inning only giving up two [runs] was big," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "That’s a tough lineup he was facing. He kept them off balance."

Sale allowed six hits but only one after the second inning. He walked two and struck out seven. He finished strong, too, pitching a 1-2-3 seventh with a pair of strikeouts.

Stopping the White Sox’s three-game losing streak was important to Sale.

"When you want to stop a streak, it’s important to go out and do everything you can to get a win," he said. "That’s what I did."

CHICAGO -- Over the past 10 days Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura and Chicago Cubs skipper Dale Sveum have been questioned about changing their batting order with both clubs off to poor starts offensively.

Going into Thursday's action, Cubs and Sox hitters are hitting under .150 with runners in scoring position.

Adam Dunn, who is batting .100, has been the focal point for the Sox's early struggles. His problems seems more symptomatic of a collective breakdown.

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CHICAGO -- A combination of good pitching and just enough offense helped the Chicago White Sox snap their four-game losing streak.

Starter Jose Quintana extended his scoreless streak to 18 2/3 innings before giving way to the bullpen in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians. Quintana allowed one run in the inning before manager Robin Ventura went to Nate Jones with runners on the corners and nobody out.

Jones gave up a sacrifice fly, but he and his bullpen mates were flawless the rest of the way. The relievers pitched four shutout innings to preserve the win for Quintana and break the losing skid.

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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 -- 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 -- 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.”

CHICAGO -- Without a ton of depth, good health was imperative for the Chicago White Sox, and so far things have gone nothing like the team hoped.

Not only does John Danks continue to recover from last summer’s shoulder surgery, but Dayan Viciedo is now on the disabled list with an oblique strain, joining fellow Opening Day starter Gordon Beckham, who fractured the hamate bone in his left hand/wrist.

In addition to that, utility man Angel Sanchez has already gone to the disabled list, along with reliever Leyson Septimo.

“I don’t remember an April where we’ve had five guys on the DL, but that’s just part of the gig and that’s where we’re at right now,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “Fortunately, nothing seems that long term. We expect all of these guys to be back in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, we’ll give some other guys opportunities.

“You’ve seen Conor Gillaspie make the most of his chance to get more regular at-bats, and here’s a chance now for guys like [Jordan] Danks, [Blake] Tekotte and Dewayne Wise to step up and play a larger role.”

While Viciedo was still trying to find his way in the early going, Beckham was off to a solid start before he was injured. Taking advantage of his spot toward the end of the White Sox’s order, Beckham was batting .316 after the first seven days, although he had yet to deliver an extra-base hit.

With Jeff Keppinger moving over to second base, Gillaspie has made the most of his opportunity at third base. He closed out the road trip on an 0-for-6 slide but was still batting .364 with a .485 slugging percentage at the start of play Saturday.

Gillaspie was acquired at the start of spring training as a nod to the club’s lack of depth. The White Sox’s system is not highly regarded by baseball publications, like Baseball America, that monitor the minor leagues.

Hahn was asked whether the injuries and a 7-9 start have tempted to tinker with the roster via trades.

“Given all the injuries, it’s been fairly easy to tinker and scratch that itch, so to speak,” Hahn said. “It certainly is a temptation to explore other options, but it’s way too soon to avert from the plan except when forced to due to injury.

“We’d rather get up to at least 6-8-week sample before you start drawing any sort of long-term conclusions, whether it be the guys who have gotten off to fantastic starts or the guys who have struggled early.”

Health issues haven’t been exclusive to the roster. Pitching coach Don Cooper missed the entire 10-game road trip with a digestive issue that required hospitalization in Washington D.C.

“It wasn’t a good road trip,” Ventura said of his club, which went 3-7 on its three-city swing. “Not only losing players, but you’re losing staff members. But again, it’s part of the game, and you just have to be able to have somebody come in and pick it up and keep going. That’s just part of baseball and being a long season and being able to make it work.”

CHICAGO -- Not only are the Chicago White Sox starting a homestand after a rough three-city road trip, they are also welcoming back pitching coach Don Cooper, who missed the past 10 games because of a bout with diverticulitis.

The digestive disorder caused Cooper to be hospitalized while the team was in Washington, D.C., to start the trip, and he didn’t travel with the club to Cleveland or Toronto.

“What it amounted to for me was a bad, bad, bad stomach ache for five days,” Cooper said. “There are so many people that have it so much worse, every day waking up with pain. I’m not going to beef about it.”

Perhaps “beef” wasn’t the best word, although Cooper said he was told by doctors that his digestive issue is likely hereditary, while being brought on by age.

Bullpen coach Bobby Thigpen assumed Cooper’s duties during the road trip.

“It’s good to have him back, just for the stuff he does and the normal interaction for me during the game for the pitchers,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Bobby did a good job, but you kind of feel like everybody is back doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

While at home recovering, Cooper still kept a close eye on the club while watching the games in Cleveland and Toronto. He even got messages to players during the games.

“I was talking to Bobby daily, and I was texting guys during their outings,” Cooper said. “I was texting all the pitchers in their outings. Sometimes, it wasn’t going through with some of the problems with phones in Toronto. But I texted the catchers, the pitchers when they were doing well and when they didn’t, telling them what I was seeing.

“It’s a different perspective and different view than what I normally get right there. There were things you get to see and say to make sure we stay on top with this that and the other things with individual guys.”

Overall, the pitching staff wasn’t at its best while Cooper was away, posting a 4.20 ERA on the road trip while the White Sox were outscored 41-35. But there were some positives.

“Seeing [Jose] Quintana pitch the way he did the last two starts, seeing Jake Peavy in Cleveland, seeing Dylan [Axelrod] up there, Chris [Sale on Thursday] in Toronto, and our bullpen has been great,” Cooper said. “The catchers did a heck of a job.”

Cooper said he grew an even deeper appreciation for his job as pitching coach while being away. And he added that he is making changes to his diet in order to not have the same issue return.

“I guess as you get older you realize you are not bulletproof anymore,” he said. “But [stuff] comes your way, and you deal with it as best as you can and move on. Luckily, it was a small thing for me and so many other things are much, much more difficult to fight through.”

TORONTO -- The starting pitcher throws well, the bullpen keeps the score close and the lineup gets a clutch run or two to pull ahead late. It's a simple recipe for winning, yet obviously getting all three parts of the game working at the same time is easier said than done, as the Chicago White Sox could attest in the early part of this season.

On Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, however, the Sox received two things -- quality pitching and key hits -- that have been in short supply for the club. Starter Dylan Axelrod gave the Sox six solid innings, limiting the Jays to two runs and keeping his team in the game despite a shaky final frame. After the bullpen did its characteristic superb job of keeping Toronto in check, the heart of the White Sox order delivered the go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth to put the club ahead for good in the 4-3 victory.

"Those are the big at-bats and we finally got the big hit," manager Robin Ventura said. "Again, it's a work in progress and you keep going at it over and over again. That's the kind of thing you're looking for."

Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko both drew walks to lead off the ninth, and after a Conor Gillaspie strikeout, Dayan Viciedo came to the plate. Viciedo had gone 0-for-3 against Jays starter Josh Johnson and fell behind 1-and-2 against reliever Steve Delabar. The slugger held steady against a close 95 mph fastball that just missed the strike zone and didn't chase a ball in the dirt, then blasted a 3-2 pitch into deep center field for an RBI double.

It was a much-needed big hit for Viciedo, who entered the game hitting just .184 for the season and was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. After a three-hit performance on Monday, and Tuesday's clutch double, there are signs the Cuban outfielder was turning things around.

"I was very calm and was concentrating at swinging at good pitches," Viciedo said through an interpreter. "I had to get a good pitch to hit here. I felt calm during that at-bat, different than the other ones. I trust the work I've been doing in the cage. I'm getting better slowly and I'm feeling better slowly but definitely I've stayed positive."

The winning run was scored by Konerko, who came home on a Hector Gimenez sacrifice fly. It was one of three runs for Konerko, who also scored from third on a wild pitch in the second and hit a solo homer in the seventh. While Gimenez's fly ball went fairly deep into right field, it was still a challenge for the less-than-speedy team captain.

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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 -- 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.”

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals have a lineup that doesn’t mind taking pitches or fouling them off. They want to make a pitcher work early in the game in order to wear him out later.

That’s just what happened to Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Axelrod Thursday night. Washington’s patience forced Axelrod to throw 103 pitches in just 3⅔ innings as the Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Sox with a 7-4 victory at Nationals Park.

Axelrod’s problems began in the first inning. The Nationals scored just one run on two hits, but the right-hander needed to throw 40 pitches just to get out of that inning after Washington fouled off pitch after pitch.

“That’s not the way you want to start: 40 pitches in the first inning,” Axelrod said. “I guess I could have done a better job of challenging early. They made me work.”

Yes, they did. And that set the stage for other problems afterward. Axelrod (0-1) retired the Nats in order in the second, but Washington wore him down the second and third times through the order.

The Nationals kept staying patient and working deep into counts. That’s why they manufactured runs off of Axelrod. There were walks, stolen bases, a sacrifice fly, a double from Washington starter Dan Haren -- who scored the go-ahead run on an Axelrod wild pitch in the fourth -- and the back-breaker, a two-run double from Ryan Zimmerman in that inning, which gave the Nats a 6-3 lead and ended Axelrod’s night.

“They make it extremely hard,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. “Every time you go around, it gets a little harder, so [he] wasn’t able to get through that one. This is a tough team.”

Axelrod made some good pitches in different spots but ended up allowing six runs on seven hits in those 3⅔ long innings, which took nearly two hours to play. He also walked four and struck out two as the Nationals kept pushing.

“I felt all right [after the first inning], but obviously, you know, the more pitches you throw, your stuff just isn’t the same, just doesn’t have that zip on it," Axelrod said. "They're an aggressive team … they got deep into counts and made me work real hard."

WASHINGTON -- The White Sox couldn’t come through with clutch hits in the first two games of the Washington series. They didn't do much better in the series finale.

Chicago was a combined 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position in losses on Tuesday and Wednesday. The White Sox went just 3-for-13 in the same category Thursday despite getting 13 hits overall, and that lack of timely hitting proved very costly and let Washington wrap up a series sweep with a 7-4 victory.

“We actually swung it pretty good,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “We left a few guys on [base] early. This is a tough team. You have to take advantage of everything if you’re going to beat them.”

The White Sox didn’t take advantage of much at all. They knocked around Washington starter Dan Haren for three runs on 10 hits in five innings, but the right-hander kept squirming out of trouble and got the win.

Chicago left 11 runners on base overall, but eight of those came in the first five innings when Haren was pitching. The Sox kept getting the hits. In fact, five players finished with two hits in this game. They just didn’t come at the right time.

That was the difference in this game. Washington finished with 10 hits -- three fewer than the Sox -- but the Nationals went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Plus, the Nats went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position in those first two games and finished the series 11-for-25. That’s a long way from Chicago’s 4-for-28, and it's also why Washington kept scoring runs at the right times.

“We didn’t play terribly; we just got beat out there,” Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko said. “I mean, they did just every little [thing]. All the parts of the game -- we weren’t bad at them. We were OK at them actually, but they were just a little bit better, and that’s why they won the games.”

WASHINGTON -- Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd looked sharp during his first time through the Washington lineup. He didn’t fare as well the second and third time around, the fate of many pitchers who face the Nationals.

The Nats touched up Floyd for five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-2 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night. Floyd struck out seven -- four in the first three innings -- but gave up eight of his nine hits in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings against a strong Washington team.

“It’s a well-balanced lineup,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “You get to that fifth, sixth inning, it’s hard to get through it again another time. You’re looking at a pretty complete team, and it’s tough to get through them three times.”

That was Floyd’s problem. Bryce Harper crushed Floyd’s first pitch of the fourth inning halfway into the second deck in right for a game-tying homer. Danny Espinosa gave Washington the lead for good at 2-1 later in the inning with an RBI single.

The Nationals banged out three straight hits in the fifth, the last being Ryan Zimmerman’s RBI single for a 3-1 lead. Alex Rios’ RBI grounder cut it to 3-2 in the sixth, but the Nationals got to Floyd (0-2) one final time in the bottom half, scoring twice more on three hits, two off of him before Ventura pulled the right-hander.

“I thought I made pretty good pitches,” Floyd said. “I felt pretty good out there. Early on, I was kind of cruising, and then [it was] kind of one hit after the other. They have a very good lineup, one through eight.”

Floyd enjoyed pitching close to home. He’s originally from Annapolis, Md., less than an hour’s drive away, and Floyd was looking forward to seeing his parents after the game.

“It’s definitely special when you come back near home so you can have some time together,” Floyd said. “It’s like any other game, [but you] just enjoy it and the times you’re here.”