Chicago White Sox: The 2011 Season May Finally Slip Away in Seattle

The Chicago White Sox face a cold reality as they head into Seattle to start a three-game series with the Mariners.

The White Sox fell back another game behind Detroit in dropping two games to Los Angeles. Despite the Tigers' loss Wednesday night, Chicago failed to take advantage. An 8-0 loss to the Angels put the White Sox current situation in clear view for all to see.

Paul Konerko is still hurting. Carlos Quentin doesn't figure to play this weekend and may be headed for the disabled list. A.J. Pierzynski seems to be nearly ready to play, but it's a possibility the team may hold him out until September 1st to avoid having to take another player off the roster.

We may just see the flickering hope that Chicago can still be a player in the division race snuffed out by the end of the weekend.

Detroit can beat Tampa Bay Thursday and open a seven-game cushion on the White Sox. They then have seven games with Minnesota and Kansas City, teams they are a combined 17-7 against. No matter how Chicago does in Seattle, they may still find themselves with too big a deficit to erase in the last month.

The White Sox have been consistently inconsistent all summer. The pitching has been solid, the bats here and there. As the offense ebbs and flows, so do the results.

Chicago currently has a .212 hitter batting cleanup and a .165 hitter in the DH spot. Their light-hitting third baseman is hitting 20 points higher than their highly touted second baseman. Konerko has been excellent all season, but he's playing on one leg and has been for awhile.

Hey, Jered Weaver is tough on any team. However, the White Sox were shut out for the ninth time this season.

From July 30th, when they were 52-52 and three games out, here's how the White Sox have fared: Six losses, five wins. Loss, win, loss. Three wins, three losses. Two wins, two losses.

If the back-and-forth leaves you dizzy, I don't blame you.

The final result is an 11-13 record in that stretch, winning just three of the five series they've played.

Chicago is looking more and more to be what it has shown as of late: a team that will be lucky to finish at the .500 mark. Even in the AL Central, that's not enough to compete.