Game #3: Indians 5, White Sox 3, 11 innings

 It is, admittedly, a ridiculously small sample size. But through three games, the offensive numbers the White Sox have put up are underwhelming.

Their .154 team batting average is the worst in the majors and no team has fewer hits (14).  Despite getting two quality starts and a satisfactory one, they dropped two of three games to Cleveland, a team projected to finish at the bottom of the division.

After a night that saw the Sox go 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, strike out 12 times and squander numerous chances to take control, manager Ozzie Guillen said the problem was not making contact when it mattered.

"I know it's early in the season, I know it's cold, but we have too many strikeouts,” he said. “We had plenty of opportunities to score some runs, but we didn't put the ball in play. When you have the kind of ball club we have, you better start putting the ball in play more often."

According to second baseman Gordon Beckham, who along with Paul Konerko struck out with the bases loaded to stall a fifth-inning rally, the problem may be that they're trying too hard.

"I think we want to score runs so bad that we're almost pressing a little bit," he said. "I think we're almost geared up too much instead of just letting the runs come to us. We're good hitters and we haven't showed it lately. It will come."

Guillen praised the pitching as he got another quality start, this time from Gavin Floyd, who tossed six innings of two-run ball. Floyd and four relievers -- including Sergio Santos, who made his Major League debut -- combined to strike out 16. With Mark Buehrle's Opening Day gem and Jake Peavy's serviceable outing on Wednesday, the pitching has given the Sox a chance to win every game. Thus far, the offense just isn't clicking consistently enough.

Mark Teahan is hitless on the year and Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios are off to .091 and .100 starts respectively. The team's three-game hit total is the lowest since 1984.

Yes, there are 159 games left, but these early-season games count just as much as the ones in September, so not capitalizing still hurts. Especially when when two very winnable games slip away.

 "I felt like we should have swept them," Floyd said. "It's early on, you know, this doesn't really mean anything right now, but it'd be nice to get on a winning streak."