A 2-4 homestand, under the best of circumstances, is unacceptable.

Given that every game, the White Sox are playing for their collective 2010 baseball lives, it goes from unacceptable to unpalatable and horrific.

Tack on the fact that the strength of the 2010 White Sox, its bullpen, was a major cause of the meltdowns of the last two days, and the adjectives become more colorful and less useful in mixed company.

One factor of this recent slide that has been overlooked, though, has been the awful at-bats by the middle of the lineup. In the final game against the Twins, the White Sox had five at-bats in two innings with the bases loaded - and failed to record one hit. This is hearkening back to the 2007 campaign, when the White Sox might put up 20 hits in a game and score two runs. It's not a general failure of hitting, but a specific inability to record an RBI hit (or even sacrifice) with runners in scoring position. Breaking down those five at-bats looks something like this:

Bottom of the 5th (Twins lead 3-1; bases loaded, 0 out)

Alex Rios: K-P (Groundout 2-3)
Paul Konerko: S-K-S (Strikeout swinging)
Carlos Quentin: K-F-F-F-B-F-S (Strikeout swinging)

Bottom of the 6th (Twins lead 3-1; bases loaded, 1 out)

Juan Pierre: K-F-P (Lineout 8)
Alexei Ramirez: B-S-P (Popout 6)

For those unfamiliar with the pitch notation: K=called strike, S=swinging strike, B=ball, F=foul, and P=ball in play.

Of those five at-bats, four of them lasted three pitches or less. Where the White Sox were able to work deep into counts during their stretch of winning in June and July, they have now reverted to their old modus operandi: let strike one pass them by, then scramble for the rest of the at-bat. Obviously, for all pitchers, it's important to get that first pitch strike - but if the pitcher is constantly pounding the zone on first pitch with fastballs, the hitters MUST adapt and force the pitcher to get other pitches over on the initial offering. Liriano was encountering no resistance when he threw his fastball for strike one - and while he was certainly placing it effectively, he has to do so because there is little to no movement on his fastball. For hitters to constantly allow him to get the first pitch fastball by them consistently allows him to get into a groove, and does not allow hitters later in the game to work deep into counts since they may as well be going up to the plate with an 0-1 count.

Konerko's at bat bothered me the most, for the main reason that despite his .300 average and above-average power numbers, he has had far too many of those bad plate appearances this season - especially in clutch situations. The thing that makes these bad at-bats stand out is that his value as a player is as high as it has ever been. His WAR (Wins Above Replacement player) is 3.8 - highest in his career. The next highest season? 2005, when his WAR was 3.5.

Fear not, White Sox fans, for all is not lost. On the White Sox' to-do list, though, HAS to be winning two of three in this next series against the Twins. Take a day to regroup, then go into Target Field with a feeling that this team has nothing to lose. Remember, this team was almost 10 games out at one point, so 2 games is NOTHING.  The Sox simply cannot afford to play the kind of ball they played last week. It's time to get on the stick and start playing the smart baseball that got them to this point - in contention, once again, for the postseason.