Scott bails out Scott

White Sox general manager Ken Williams pulled no punches Monday, criticizing his team as it goes into the last six weeks of the season. ''We're underachievers, period,'' he said, adding that their 3-3 West Coast trip should've included at least two more victories. ''I'm not happy with the road trip. We lost two games we should've won, which [would've put] us a half-game out of first. We've thrown away a dozen games that way, [keeping us from] where I thought we would be, which is in first place and in a good position [for the postseason]. But we deserve what we've got. ''Hell, no, I'm not happy with a lot of what I see.'' Asked if injuries are contributing to the struggles, Williams was blunt. ''Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it anymore,'' he said. ''Yes, we can be a dangerous playoff team, but you first have to play well enough, play smart enough, play intense enough to where you show you want to be in the playoffs. It can't just be lip service. I don't want to hear it anymore. Get the job done.'' The Sox (61-58) are two games behind the idle Detroit Tigers after their 8-7 comeback victory over the Kansas City Royals. The seesaw game saw the Sox and Mark Buehrle with a 5-4 lead after six innings and 7-4 after seven. But Scott Linebrink (3-5) gave up a game-tying three-run home run to Mike Jacobs before Scott Podsednik drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth. ''After Linebrink gave up the home run, I didn't see any long faces,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. ''That was a good sign.'' Rain delayed the start of the game for an hour. Before the game, Guillen was as unsettled as Williams. ''The way Kenny built this ballclub, there's no doubt we're better than .500,'' Guillen said. ''Look at our lineup. Look at our pitching staff. Don't look at our defense -- please. Don't look at that one [because] we're horrible. But if you look at the team and say, 'This is a .500 team,' you have to be wrong. Look at those guys we've got on the field. Look at the guys we have on the bench. If we want to win this thing, we better get better than .500. ''Do we have the talent to do it? I think so. Do we have the right people on the field to do it? There's no doubt. But it's up to the players to go out there and perform.'' Guillen blamed inconsistent play. ''Mistakes [on defense] make our pitching staff suffer,'' Guillen said. ''When you make errors, your starters aren't going to be that good. We have to be better defensively.'' Williams said the Sox are a good group of guys. ''I know they want it,'' Williams said. ''Nobody would be here if I didn't feel that we had a group who wanted it. ''But it's mid-August. It's time to turn it up a notch. If you're going to show you're a playoff team, now is about as good a time as any. ''We beat the Yankees three out of four, the Angels two out of three, then lost two out of three to Cleveland. This is the American League, and you can't take any team for granted. This Kansas City team, if you're not careful, they'll embarrass you. You have to be on your A game. ''We have a lot of talent out on that field. The fact of the matter is we're simply not executing to the degree we need to execute to call ourselves playoff-worthy -- period.'' Comment at suntimes.com. THE RECAP At the plate Jayson Nix had a two-run homer in the second and A.J. Pierzynski a two-run homer in the seventh. Scott Podsednik, batting leadoff as the designated hitter, doubled in a run in the fourth and the go-ahead run in the eighth with a single. Alex Rios was 2-for-3, including a sixth inning double. On the mound Mark Buehrle pitched six innings and had the lead when he left, but he remains without a victory in five starts since his perfect game. He gave up four runs and nine hits. Scott Linebrink gave up the lead after walking two with two outs in the eighth, then giving up a first-pitch home run to pinch hitter Mike Jacobs. Pivotal point The Royals had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth when Buehrle got Josh Anderson to ground to the mound, starting a home-to-first inning-ending double play. BOXSCORE Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Bloomquist 2b-ss 5 1 1 0 0 0 .255 B.Pena c 5 0 1 0 0 0 .320 Butler 1b 5 0 2 1 0 0 .298 Olivo dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .236 Callaspo 3b-2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .297 Teahen rf 3 2 2 0 1 0 .278 Maier lf 2 2 2 1 2 0 .250 Y.Betancourt ss 2 1 1 2 1 0 .239 a-Jacobs ph 1 1 1 3 0 0 .236 A.Gordon 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .198 J.Anderson cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .235 Totals 35 7 10 7 4 2 SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Podsednik dh 5 0 2 2 0 3 .297 Beckham 3b 5 0 0 0 0 2 .299 Dye rf 2 1 2 0 2 0 .277 Konerko 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .272 Pierzynski c 4 1 2 2 0 0 .314 Quentin lf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .229 Rios cf 3 2 2 0 1 0 .262 AL.Ramirez ss 2 2 1 1 0 0 .277 J.Nix 2b 3 1 1 2 0 0 .230 b-Kotsay ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .260 Lillibridge 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .157 Totals 31 8 11 7 4 7 Kansas City 030 010 030--7 10 1 SOX 020 102 21x--8 11 1 a-homered for Y.Betancourt in the 8th. b-struck out for J.Nix in the 8th. E--Teahen (9), AL.Ramirez (16). LOB--Kansas City 5, SOX 6. 2B--Bloomquist (7), Teahen (28), Maier 2 (12), Podsednik (16), Rios (27). HR--Y.Betancourt (4), off Buehrle; Jacobs (16), off Linebrink; J.Nix (10), off Bannister; Pierzynski (13), off Bannister. RBIs--Butler (62), Maier (17), Y.Betancourt 2 (32), Jacobs 3 (44), Podsednik 2 (36), Pierzynski 2 (35), AL.Ramirez (55), J.Nix 2 (24). S--AL.Ramirez. SF--AL.Ramirez. Runners left in scoring position--Kansas City 2 (Olivo, J.Anderson); SOX 4 (Pierzynski, Quentin, Beckham 2). Runners moved up--B.Pena. GIDP--Olivo 2, J.Anderson, Pierzynski, Rios. DP--Kansas City 2 (Y.Betancourt, Bloomquist, Butler), (Callaspo, Bloomquist, Butler); SOX 3 (AL.Ramirez, J.Nix, Konerko), (Buehrle, Pierzynski, Konerko), (Beckham, J.Nix, Konerko). Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Bannister 7 10 7 6 3 6 110 4.44 R.Colon L, 1-3 0.1 0 1 1 1 0 7 6.23 Bale 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 16 6.04 SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Buehrle 6 9 4 4 2 0 96 3.78 Thornton H, 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 2.44 Linebrink 1 1 3 3 2 2 21 3.53 W, 3-5 BS, 2-4 Jenks S, 25-29 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.80 Inherited runners-scored--Bale 1-1. HBP--by Bannister (Quentin). WP--Bannister 2. Umpires--Home, Chad Fairchild; First, Wally Bell; Second, Mark Carlson; Third, Marty Foster. T--2:36. A--36,703. HOW THEY SCORED Royals second Olivo grounded out. Callaspo grounded out. Teahen doubled. Maier doubled, Teahen scored. Y.Betancourt homered to left on a 2-1 count, Maier scored. Three runs. Royals 3, White Sox 0. White Sox second Quentin singled. Rios hit into a double play. AL.Ramirez singled. On Bannister's wild pitch, AL.Ramirez to second. J.Nix homered to left on a 2-2 count, AL.Ramirez scored. Two runs. Royals 3, White Sox 2. White Sox fourth Rios singled. On Bannister's wild pitch, Rios to second. AL.Ramirez grounded into fielder's choice, Rios out. J.Nix flied out. Podsednik doubled, AL.Ramirez scored. One run. Royals 3, White Sox 3. Royals fifth Bloomquist doubled. B.Pena grounded out, Bloomquist to third. Butler singled, Bloomquist scored. One run. Royals 4, White Sox 3. White Sox sixth Quentin was hit by a pitch. Rios doubled, Quentin to third. On Teahen's error, Quentin scored, Rios to third. AL.Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly, Rios scored. Two runs. White Sox 5, Royals 4. White Sox seventh Beckham struck out. Dye walked on a full count. Konerko struck out. Pierzynski homered to right on a 1-1 count, Dye scored. Two runs. White Sox 7, Royals 4. Royals eighth Linebrink pitching. Olivo struck out. Callaspo flied out. Teahen walked on a full count. Maier walked on four pitches, Teahen to second. Jacobs pinch-hitting for Y.Betancourt. Jacobs homered to right on a 0-0 count, Teahen scored, Maier scored. Three runs. Royals 7, White Sox 7. White Sox eighth R.Colon pitching. Rios walked. AL.Ramirez sacrificed, Rios to second. Kotsay pinch-hitting for J.Nix. Bale pitching. Kotsay struck out. Podsednik singled, Rios scored. One run. White Sox 8, Royals 7.