Royalshome.com | Kansas City Royals News, royals Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div>Four consecutive losses, shaky pitching, inconsistent hitting ... even before Lance Broadway coughed up the game in the 11th inning Tuesday the fuse already was lit. </div>All John Buck's walk-off single did in the 8-7 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was add the gasoline. ''I think some people on this team better check their ass,'' Guillen said afterward. ''Some people think for sure they're going to be the stars then they better check their ass. They better start thinking about the way we're playing. I'm not talking about everyone. I'm talking about the players out there that just, they want to take it for granted that they're here, well, they better be careful. I'm not afraid to move people, I'm not afraid to make changes. The way we played, just be careful with some changes. ''We're not doing the little things to win games and when you don't do the little things to win games, you're not going to win too many games.'' Considering the Sox went 1-4 on the road trip and are now 12-14 for the season, Guillen had a point. Now, what will be the collateral damage from his threat? The first order of business that could see some change is the starting pitching. Tuesday was just the latest body of evidence for that, and Gavin Floyd was the latest culprit. The right-hander, who won 17 games last season and was being counted on as the No. 2 starter, went five innings, allowing six earned runs on six hits, and watching his ERA bubble up to 6.29 for the season. Thank goodness for Jose Contreras and his 8.31 ERA, otherwise Floyd would have the dubious honor of highest ERA on the team. Since April 23, Sox starters have a 7.38 ERA in non-Mark Buehrle starts. Buehrle has been the staff ace, while Bartolo Colon has been solid in all but one of his starts. Contreras is obviously in a sink or swim situation come Thursday against Detroit, leaving the team scratching their heads on the performances of Floyd and John Danks so far this year. ''We just need a little more consistency from everyone,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said. ''It seems the days that have gotten away from us are the days Jose has started, so starting there, we need to be better. Each one of them has to be better. ''We need more innings out of our starters, as well. We need at least seven good ones to give us a better chance. More often or not, our guys have given us that chance.'' In the finale of the two-game series against the Royals, it was the other way around, with the offense giving Floyd every chance to win the game. But even with a 4-0 lead, he couldn't hold it. Floyd gave up the solo home run to Alberto Callaspo in the bottom of the third, but the Sox stretched it back out to four runs in the fourth with a Carlos Quentin RBI single. The response from Floyd? Three more runs allowed in the bottom of the fourth, letting the first-place Royals (16-11) climb back in it. Guillen, however, wasn't about to single out just one player. ''I don't think just Gavin, everybody,'' he added. ''I think this ballclub is inconsistent. I think we're better than the way we've been playing. Too many strikeouts, not enough big pitches, too many people left on base, too many bad pitches to the wrong people. It's been a tough week, really bad road trip.'' . THE RECAP AT THE PLATE It isn't often that 16 hits and seven runs aren't enough, but then again White Sox Baseball 2009 doesn't exactly fit into a nice neat little box. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski had a four-hit night, while Jermaine Dye and Josh Fields homered in their first games back from hand injuries. ON THE MOUND Right-hander Gavin Floyd continued his struggles, throwing five innings and allowing six earned runs on six hits in the no-decision. Floyd has allowed five runs or more in three of his six starts, and has a 6.29 ERA. TURNING POINT With the score 7-7 in the 11th, in came reliever Lance Broadway. A one-out walk to Mitch Maier, followed by a Willie Bloomquist single, set the stage for John Buck to finally put the Sox out of their misery, as he ripped the game-winning single past the glove of a diving Fields at third. BOX SCORE SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Getz 2b 5 1 0 0 1 2 .288 Fields 3b 6 1 2 1 0 2 .261 Quentin lf 5 0 3 1 0 0 .253 Thome dh 3 1 0 0 3 1 .214 Dye rf 6 2 2 2 0 3 .292 Konerko 1b 6 1 2 0 0 1 .302 Pierzynski c 5 1 4 0 1 0 .316 AL.Ramirez ss 6 0 1 1 0 2 .211 Podsednik cf 4 0 2 2 0 0 .316 Totals 46 7 16 7 5 11 Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Crisp cf 2 0 1 1 4 0 .235 DeJesus lf 6 0 0 0 0 1 .237 Teahen 3b 5 2 2 0 1 2 .292 J.Guillen rf 2 2 1 0 2 0 .306 1-Maier pr-rf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .174 Butler 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .253 2-Blmquist pr-1b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .378 Jacobs dh 5 1 1 3 1 2 .241 Callaspo 2b 5 1 2 2 1 1 .379 J.Buck c 6 0 1 1 0 2 .250 Aviles ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 .207 Totals 42 8 11 8 11 8 SOX 013 120 000 00--7 16 0 Kansas City 001 302 100 01--8 11 0 Two outs when winning run scored. 1-ran for J.Guillen in the 7th. 2-ran for Butler in the 7th. LOB-- SOX 13, K.C. 13. 2B--Pierzynski (2), Butler (6), Callaspo (13). 3B--Pierzynski (1). HR--Fields (2), off Davies; Dye (7), off Davies; Callaspo (2), off Floyd; Jacobs (5), off Floyd. RBIs--Fields (11), Quentin (17), Dye 2 (15), AL.Ramirez (11), Podsednik 2 (2), Crisp (11), Butler (11), Jacobs 3 (16), Callaspo 2 (11), J.Buck (17). SB--Quentin (1), AL.Ramirez (6), Crisp 2 (4), Bloomquist (4). SF--Podsednik. Runners left in scoring position-- SOX 8 (Dye, AL.Ramirez, Thome 2, Getz, Konerko, Fields, Podsednik); Kansas City 6 (Teahen, DeJesus 2, J.Buck 2, Maier). Runners moved up--Fields, Pierzynski, AL.Ramirez, DeJesus 2, Butler. GIDP--Thome, AL.Ramirez. DP-- SOX 1 (Quentin, Quentin, Pierzynski); Kansas City 2 (Aviles, Callaspo, Butler), (J.Wright, Aviles, Bloomquist). SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Floyd 5 6 6 6 2 2 82 6.29 Thornton H, 4 1 2 1 1 2 3 29 2.70 Dotel BS, 1-1 1 1 0 0 2 1 26 0.00 Linebrink 1 0 0 0 2 0 28 0.90 Carrasco 2 0 0 0 1 1 32 3.00 Broadway L, 0-1 0.2 2 1 1 2 1 23 5.40 Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Davies 4 8 6 6 3 2 95 5.88 Tejeda 2 3 1 1 1 3 41 1.69 Mahay 1 2 0 0 0 1 16 5.19 J.Wright 3 3 0 0 0 3 43 1.45 J.Cruz W, 2-0 1 0 0 0 1 2 21 2.19 Davies pitched to 1 batter in the 5th. Floyd pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. Thornton pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored--Thornton 2-2, Dotel 1-1, Tejeda 1-1. IBB--off Linebrink (Teahen), off Broadway (Callaspo). HBP--by Davies (Quentin). WP--Floyd, Davies, J.Wright. Umpires--Home, Jerry Crawford; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Todd Tichenor; Third, Tom Hallion. T--4:33. A--13,419. HOW THEY SCORED White Sox second Konerko singled. Pierzynski singled, Konerko to second. AL.Ramirez hit into a double play, Konerko to third, Pierzynski out. Podsednik singled, Konerko scored. One run. Sox 1, Royals 0. White Sox third Fields homered. Quentin grounded out. Thome walked. Dye homered, Thome scored. Three runs. Sox 4, Royals 0. Royals third Callaspo homered. One run. Sox 4, Royals 1. White Sox fourth Podsednik flied out. Getz walked. On Davies's wild pitch, Getz to second. Fields grounded out, Getz to third. Quentin singled, Getz scored. One run. Sox 5, Royals 1. Royals fourth Teahen singled. J.Guillen singled, Teahen to second. Butler flied out, Teahen to third. Jacobs homered, Teahen scored, J.Guillen scored. Three runs. Sox 5, Royals 4. White Sox fifth Dye singled. Tejeda pitching. Konerko struck out. Pierzynski singled, Dye to third. AL.Ramirez singled, Dye scored, Pierzynski to third. AL.Ramirez stole second. Podsednik hit a sacrifice fly, Pierzynski scored, AL.Ramirez to third. Two runs. Sox 7, Royals 4. Royals sixth J.Guillen walked. On Floyd's wild pitch, J.Guillen to second. Butler infield single, J.Guillen to third. Thornton pitching. Jacobs struck out. Callaspo doubled, J.Guillen scored, Butler to third. J.Buck struck out. Aviles walked. Crisp walked, Butler scored, Callaspo to third, Aviles to second. Two runs. Sox 7, Royals 6. Royals seventh Teahen singled. Dotel pitching. J.Guillen walked, Teahen to second. Butler doubled, Teahen scored, J.Guillen to third. One run. Sox 7, Royals 7. Royals 11th Broadway pitching. Teahen struck out. Maier walked. Bloomquist singled, Maier to third. Bloomquist stole second. Jacobs lined out. Callaspo was intentionally walked. J.Buck singled, Maier scored, Bloomquist to third, Callaspo to second. One run. Royals 8, Sox 7.

Four consecutive losses, shaky pitching, inconsistent hitting ... even before Lance Broadway coughed up the game in the 11th inning Tuesday the fuse already was lit.

All John Buck's walk-off single did in the 8-7 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was add the gasoline.

''I think some people on this team better check their ass,'' Guillen said afterward. ''Some people think for sure they're going to be the stars then they better check their ass. They better start thinking about the way we're playing. I'm not talking about everyone. I'm talking about the players out there that just, they want to take it for granted that they're here, well, they better be careful. I'm not afraid to move people, I'm not afraid to make changes. The way we played, just be careful with some changes.

''We're not doing the little things to win games and when you don't do the little things to win games, you're not going to win too many games.''

Considering the Sox went 1-4 on the road trip and are now 12-14 for the season, Guillen had a point. Now, what will be the collateral damage from his threat?

The first order of business that could see some change is the starting pitching. Tuesday was just the latest body of evidence for that, and Gavin Floyd was the latest culprit.

The right-hander, who won 17 games last season and was being counted on as the No. 2 starter, went five innings, allowing six earned runs on six hits, and watching his ERA bubble up to 6.29 for the season. Thank goodness for Jose Contreras and his 8.31 ERA, otherwise Floyd would have the dubious honor of highest ERA on the team.

Since April 23, Sox starters have a 7.38 ERA in non-Mark Buehrle starts.

Buehrle has been the staff ace, while Bartolo Colon has been solid in all but one of his starts. Contreras is obviously in a sink or swim situation come Thursday against Detroit, leaving the team scratching their heads on the performances of Floyd and John Danks so far this year.

''We just need a little more consistency from everyone,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said. ''It seems the days that have gotten away from us are the days Jose has started, so starting there, we need to be better. Each one of them has to be better.

''We need more innings out of our starters, as well. We need at least seven good ones to give us a better chance. More often or not, our guys have given us that chance.''

In the finale of the two-game series against the Royals, it was the other way around, with the offense giving Floyd every chance to win the game. But even with a 4-0 lead, he couldn't hold it.

Floyd gave up the solo home run to Alberto Callaspo in the bottom of the third, but the Sox stretched it back out to four runs in the fourth with a Carlos Quentin RBI single.

The response from Floyd? Three more runs allowed in the bottom of the fourth, letting the first-place Royals (16-11) climb back in it.

Guillen, however, wasn't about to single out just one player.

''I don't think just Gavin, everybody,'' he added. ''I think this ballclub is inconsistent. I think we're better than the way we've been playing. Too many strikeouts, not enough big pitches, too many people left on base, too many bad pitches to the wrong people. It's been a tough week, really bad road trip.'' .

THE RECAP

AT THE PLATE

It isn't often that 16 hits and seven runs aren't enough, but then again White Sox Baseball 2009 doesn't exactly fit into a nice neat little box. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski had a four-hit night, while Jermaine Dye and Josh Fields homered in their first games back from hand injuries.

ON THE MOUND

Right-hander Gavin Floyd continued his struggles, throwing five innings and allowing six earned runs on six hits in the no-decision. Floyd has allowed five runs or more in three of his six starts, and has a 6.29 ERA.

TURNING POINT

With the score 7-7 in the 11th, in came reliever Lance Broadway. A one-out walk to Mitch Maier, followed by a Willie Bloomquist single, set the stage for John Buck to finally put the Sox out of their misery, as he ripped the game-winning single past the glove of a diving Fields at third.

BOX SCORE

SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Getz 2b 5 1 0 0 1 2 .288

Fields 3b 6 1 2 1 0 2 .261

Quentin lf 5 0 3 1 0 0 .253

Thome dh 3 1 0 0 3 1 .214

Dye rf 6 2 2 2 0 3 .292

Konerko 1b 6 1 2 0 0 1 .302

Pierzynski c 5 1 4 0 1 0 .316

AL.Ramirez ss 6 0 1 1 0 2 .211

Podsednik cf 4 0 2 2 0 0 .316

Totals 46 7 16 7 5 11

Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Crisp cf 2 0 1 1 4 0 .235

DeJesus lf 6 0 0 0 0 1 .237

Teahen 3b 5 2 2 0 1 2 .292

J.Guillen rf 2 2 1 0 2 0 .306

1-Maier pr-rf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .174

Butler 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .253

2-Blmquist pr-1b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .378

Jacobs dh 5 1 1 3 1 2 .241

Callaspo 2b 5 1 2 2 1 1 .379

J.Buck c 6 0 1 1 0 2 .250

Aviles ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 .207

Totals 42 8 11 8 11 8

SOX 013 120 000 00--7 16 0

Kansas City 001 302 100 01--8 11 0

Two outs when winning run scored.

1-ran for J.Guillen in the 7th. 2-ran for Butler in the 7th.

LOB-- SOX 13, K.C. 13. 2B--Pierzynski (2), Butler (6), Callaspo (13). 3B--Pierzynski (1). HR--Fields (2), off Davies; Dye (7), off Davies; Callaspo (2), off Floyd; Jacobs (5), off Floyd. RBIs--Fields (11), Quentin (17), Dye 2 (15), AL.Ramirez (11), Podsednik 2 (2), Crisp (11), Butler (11), Jacobs 3 (16), Callaspo 2 (11), J.Buck (17). SB--Quentin (1), AL.Ramirez (6), Crisp 2 (4), Bloomquist (4). SF--Podsednik.

Runners left in scoring position-- SOX 8 (Dye, AL.Ramirez, Thome 2, Getz, Konerko, Fields, Podsednik); Kansas City 6 (Teahen, DeJesus 2, J.Buck 2, Maier). Runners moved up--Fields, Pierzynski, AL.Ramirez, DeJesus 2, Butler. GIDP--Thome, AL.Ramirez.

DP-- SOX 1 (Quentin, Quentin, Pierzynski); Kansas City 2 (Aviles, Callaspo, Butler), (J.Wright, Aviles, Bloomquist).

SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Floyd 5 6 6 6 2 2 82 6.29

Thornton H, 4 1 2 1 1 2 3 29 2.70

Dotel BS, 1-1 1 1 0 0 2 1 26 0.00

Linebrink 1 0 0 0 2 0 28 0.90

Carrasco 2 0 0 0 1 1 32 3.00

Broadway L, 0-1 0.2 2 1 1 2 1 23 5.40

Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Davies 4 8 6 6 3 2 95 5.88

Tejeda 2 3 1 1 1 3 41 1.69

Mahay 1 2 0 0 0 1 16 5.19

J.Wright 3 3 0 0 0 3 43 1.45

J.Cruz W, 2-0 1 0 0 0 1 2 21 2.19

Davies pitched to 1 batter in the 5th.

Floyd pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

Thornton pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored--Thornton 2-2, Dotel 1-1, Tejeda 1-1. IBB--off Linebrink (Teahen), off Broadway (Callaspo). HBP--by Davies (Quentin). WP--Floyd, Davies, J.Wright.

Umpires--Home, Jerry Crawford; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Todd Tichenor; Third, Tom Hallion. T--4:33. A--13,419.

HOW THEY SCORED

White Sox second Konerko singled. Pierzynski singled, Konerko to second. AL.Ramirez hit into a double play, Konerko to third, Pierzynski out. Podsednik singled, Konerko scored. One run. Sox 1, Royals 0.

White Sox third Fields homered. Quentin grounded out. Thome walked. Dye homered, Thome scored. Three runs. Sox 4, Royals 0.

Royals third Callaspo homered. One run. Sox 4, Royals 1.

White Sox fourth Podsednik flied out. Getz walked. On Davies's wild pitch, Getz to second. Fields grounded out, Getz to third. Quentin singled, Getz scored. One run. Sox 5, Royals 1.

Royals fourth Teahen singled. J.Guillen singled, Teahen to second. Butler flied out, Teahen to third. Jacobs homered, Teahen scored, J.Guillen scored. Three runs. Sox 5, Royals 4.

White Sox fifth Dye singled. Tejeda pitching. Konerko struck out. Pierzynski singled, Dye to third. AL.Ramirez singled, Dye scored, Pierzynski to third. AL.Ramirez stole second. Podsednik hit a sacrifice fly, Pierzynski scored, AL.Ramirez to third. Two runs. Sox 7, Royals 4.

Royals sixth J.Guillen walked. On Floyd's wild pitch, J.Guillen to second. Butler infield single, J.Guillen to third. Thornton pitching. Jacobs struck out. Callaspo doubled, J.Guillen scored, Butler to third. J.Buck struck out. Aviles walked. Crisp walked, Butler scored, Callaspo to third, Aviles to second. Two runs. Sox 7, Royals 6.

Royals seventh Teahen singled. Dotel pitching. J.Guillen walked, Teahen to second. Butler doubled, Teahen scored, J.Guillen to third. One run. Sox 7, Royals 7.

Royals 11th Broadway pitching. Teahen struck out. Maier walked. Bloomquist singled, Maier to third. Bloomquist stole second. Jacobs lined out. Callaspo was intentionally walked. J.Buck singled, Maier scored, Bloomquist to third, Callaspo to second. One run. Royals 8, Sox 7.