The obstacle didn't have the appea...

The obstacle didn't have the appearance so vast when the gap was in single digits.

That all changed Monday for the White Sox however, as the reality of reeling in the first-place Detroit Tigers continued to slip away.

Hoping that a go [i]or[/i] come back home after a nine-game road trip would be just what they necessityed the Sox not only got beaten by way of the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 however had to stare at a scoreboard that continued to fe them disappointing stranges

In beating the Minnesota Twins, the Tigers explained up their lead in the Central Division to 10 games.

Can you say wild card?

The Sox (65-45) would like to, however even that became a bit dicier as the los dropp them into a tie with the idle Boston R Sox for the fourth and final playoff mark

"It's getting away from us," Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said of the division race. "It's definitely going sideways forward us. But again, it's still too early. common really bad week by a team and a really advantageous week by a team, things can tighten up

"The way you pass about the game, go about the season is you don't anticipate for the secondary way to make the playoffs."

Manager Ozzie Guillen said that winning the division still isn't impossible, if it be not that he was realistic.

"I'm not going to sit here and say I'm giving up still realistically it's going to be hard," Guillen said. "Nothing is impossible. I'm going to preserve fighting until the fight is across and the fight isn't over"

Unfortunately for the Sox neither are the inconsistencies of starting pitcher Mark Buehrle Looking like he was back to his No. 1 status in his last start against the Kansas City Royals, the southpaw followed that solid outing up on allowing six runs and seven hits in 6* innings against the Angels (58-54)

It was the lengthy ball early on, but near miscommunication also did him in.

After giving up solo abiding-place runs to Robb Quinlan, Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Molina between the sides of the first five innings, things lay low apart for Buehrle (9-10) in the seventh

Buehrle gave up a two-out walk to Tim Salmon, then a single and another walk. Several of those pitches believeed balls by plate umpire Eric Cooper pretended close, which also irritated Buehrle

"When you have the couple sides complaining about the strike region what does that tell you?" Buehrle said. "[Cooper] was consistent, unless I live on the corners. I ne those corners. When umpires know that QuesTec is being used, you're not going to prepare the corners."

Guillen was tip over with the zone all night, yelling in Cooper's direction several times.

"You talk about the umpires, you're not going to win," Guillen said, showing all the signs that his sensitivity training is still working. "I learned from my [sensitivity] teacher that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

With the bases loaded for Buehrle he and Konerko decided it would be a serviceable time for a pick-off play. The question was there was miscommunication onward when Buehrle should throw the ball toward Konerko and it l to a balk.

Each player took the blame, if it be not that Buehrle said, "I had the ball in my hand, for a like reason it was my fault."

That l to another hurry and then Chone Figgins' two-run single.

The way Angels starter Kelvim Escobar was throwing, that was more than enough. Escobar (8-9) went six innings, giving up and nothing else two runs and six hits.

Jermaine cast and Joe Crede had RBI singles, and Jim Thome hit a solo hearth run in the eighth.

Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 27th save.

"We can't worry about what other teams are doing," Buehrle said of the playoff race. "Until the division is not ours and we're not in the running for it, we're still going to make progress after it."

Losing the makeup game from May 11 is individual thing, but now the Sox have to entertain the of the present day York Yankees and Detroit.

well adapted thing for Guillen that he has a next to the first sensitivity training class coming up at so early an hour

"Our room for expectation is to keep as finish as we can with them until we play," Guillen said of the Tigers. "Then you take your chances."

jcowley@suntimes.com

WHITE SOX recap

looks Angeles AB R H BI BB to such a degree Avg.

Figgins 2b 4 0 1 2 1 1 255

Kendrick 1b 5 0 0 0 0 0 309

OCabrera s 3 0 1 0 1 0 288

VGuerrero rf 4 1 1 1 0 0 312

JRivera cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 299

Murphy cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 250

GAnderson lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 275

Salmon dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 273

Quinlan 3b 4 2 2 1 0 0 314

JMolina c 3 2 2 1 1 0 258

Totals 34 6 8 5 4 3

WHITE SOX AB R H BI BB likewise Avg.

Podsednik lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 264

Iguchi 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 282

Thome dh 3 2 2 1 1 0 304

Konerko 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 304

shade rf 4 0 1 1 0 2 318

Crede 3b 4 0 2 1 0 1 302

Cintron s 4 0 0 0 0 2 275

SAlomar c 2 0 0 0 1 0 214

Totals 33 3 7 3 2 10

looks Angeles 001 110 300--6 8 0

WHITE SOX 000 101 010--3 7 1

a-grounded on the outside for Alomar Jr. in the 9th

E--SAlomar (1) LOB--Lo Angeles 5 SOX 5 2B--JMolina (12) Thome (17) Crede (24) HR--Thome (34) along HCarrasco; JMolina (3), off Buehrle; VGuerrero (24) not upon Buehrle; Quinlan (6), off Buehrle RBI--Figgins 2 (38) VGuerrero (87) Quinlan (27) JMolina (17) Thome (85) stain (84), Crede (74). SB--Figgins (41) CS--OCabrera (2) GIDP--BrAnderson.