Major League Baseball

White Sox punchless again against Hughes

Published Aug. 3, 2011 6:46 a.m. ET

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John Danks had a plan: Attack the Yankees and make them hit the ball.

That's exactly what New York did.

Danks, who had been 4-0 over his previous six starts, gave up homers to Russell Martin and Mark Teixeira and threw 114 pitches in his six innings of a rain-shortened 6-0 loss Tuesday night.

''Obviously, it's not the quality of pitches I wanted to make. But I felt like I made a lot of good pitches and they either fouled them or were able to pretty good swings on them,'' Danks said. ''It's obviously a disappointing result, but it's one of those things where I did what I wanted to do and it didn't work out.''

Danks' struggles were again magnified by the White Sox's inability to muster any offense against hard-throwing Phil Hughes, who was pitching to keep his spot in the rotation.

''Well, every time you're down four-five runs and the way we're hitting, I don't think the enthusiasm is too high,'' said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen. ''Some people get down on themselves. Rain delay ... a lot of pitches for Danks, hard to get over the hump and fight.''

The White Sox have lost four straight and have fallen 5 1-2 back in the AL Central. And with their biggest and best hitter, Paul Konerko, sidelined for a second straight game after being hit in the leg with a pitch Sunday, they are really scuffling.

It will be difficult for Konerko to play Wednesday, even though he plans to try and take some batting practice. He has a severely bruised calf.

''You don't want your best player, your best hitter in the game on the team out of the lineup, but my expectation has to be realistic. If PK is ready to go, he'll be in the lineup,'' Guillen said.

''My worry is I want to play him at first base. It depends on how he feels, but I don't want him to give up at-bats to try to be a hero and don't help us,'' Guillen said. ''I don't think that's going to work. Just to say Konerko is back in the lineup. He's back in the lineup, I want him to be good enough to get good at-bats. And PK will be the first one to tell that.''

Chicago managed only three hits off Hughes before the game was called following a 57-minute rain delay before the bottom of the seventh. By that time Teixeira had homered again, this time from the left side, giving him a major league record of 12 games in which he's homered from both sides.

Chicago's difficult homestand against Detroit, Boston and the Yankees has two games remaining and then it's off to Minnesota to play a team that has dominated the White Sox the last several years.

''I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to give in,'' Guillen said. ''I think the players should know that. It's easy when you give up. When the manager gives up, everything goes apart. I'm not a loser. ... I'm losing right now. My job is to get the best out of those guys. I don't know how. The good way, the right way, the wrong way.''

Danks gave up nine hits and four runs in his six innings. He said a 45-minute delay for weather before the start of the game had nothing to do with his performance.

''I wouldn't make an excuse anyway. It's a good lineup. They just beat me today,'' he said.

NOTES: RHP A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.23 ERA) will start for the Yankees on Wednesday night. Burnett is coming off a loss to the Baltimore Orioles last Friday when he struck out 11 batters but also gave up two homers. He is 2-5 in his career against the White Sox, including 0-1 this season. He will be opposed by RHP Gavin Floyd (9-9, 3.96), who has won three straight starts, including a victory over the Red Sox in his previous outing. Floyd will make his seventh career appearance and sixth start against the Yankees. He is 2-1 against them, including 1-0 this season. ... Guillen said Adam Dunn's demeanor hasn't changed much - at least in front of his teammates - despite his monumental struggles. Dunn is batting .165 with 138 strikeouts. He singled in the second inning. ''Maybe when he goes home, he starts crying, but when he's around us, he's very good,'' Guillen said. ''I don't see any change in his character and I don't see any change with the swing. He's struggled since spring training.''

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