Latos can’t hold leads, White Sox fall to .500 for first time

Jerry Reinsdorf keeps a low profile, rarely speaking publicly any more about his baseball team. The only inkling the public gets about his level of interest, angst, concern or enjoyment about the White Sox comes from the chairman’s next-in-command.

General manager Rick Hahn said Reinsdorf cares, as indicated by his willingness to spend for James Shields.

“That’s the probably No. 1 thing that comes from Jerry is the press to get better,’’ general manager Rick Hahn said.

“In game he’s very focused on certain areas that we can do better and is not the least bit shy about pointing out to us certain things that we need to improve upon which we then have a pretty healthy exchange about.’’

After losing 10-5 to the Washington Nationals before 18,812 at U.S. Cellular Field, there is plenty talk about. Like Mat Latos’ place in the rotation, to name one. Like how does a 23-10 team nosedive to 29-29 in such rapid fashion to name two.

The acquisition of Shields bolstered a starting rotation that looked none too healthy Tuesday as the Sox opened a nine-game home stand by losing for the 11^th time in the last 13 games. Latos, handed a 5-2 lead, couldn’t finish the fifth inning and fourth starter Carlos Rodon was a day removed from having an MRI on his left arm.

Miguel Gonzalez got bumped out of the starting rotation after the trade for Shields, but he’ll be pressed into service as a starter because of Rodon’s sore neck and arm. By the time Rodon gets back – the Sox say he might miss only one start – Gonzalez might have to stay in the rotation, anyway, because Latos lasted 4 1/3 innings in the latest in a run of bad starts.

In April, Latos looked like one of the free-agent steals (one year, $3 million) of the offseason after he won his first four starts pitching to a 0.74 ERA. But in seven starts since, he has allowed 29 earned runs over 36 innings.

The Sox had a short leash with John Danks and it might be getting short with Latos, too, especially with Gonzalez (3.93 ERA) making a better showing since his first start in Toronto.

“Horse-[bleep] performance, period,’’ Latos said.

“The team gives you a lead like they did today and to just flat-out blow it is absolutely pathetic.’’

Latos’ decline, among other Sox deficiencies, has coincided with the Sox’ nosedive.

“We can’t run away from the last three or four weeks which has been extremely disappointing and frustrating for everyone around the club,’’ Hahn said. “We also can’t lose sight of the fact that we were at 23-10 at one point. Certainly that high level of performance, this group is capable of returning to that high level of performance.’’

Now would be a good time to show a sign or two that this is even possible.

“We’re on the wrong side of things and we’ve been on it for the last couple weeks,” Adam Eaton said. “We can’t just dwell on it, we have to be big boys. Nobody is going to help us, we have to do it ourselves.’’

Latos was staked to a 2-0 lead in the first on Jose Abreu’s RBI single and J.B. Shuck’s bases loaded walk against Joe Ross. The Nats tied it in the second but Latos was given a three-run lead in the bottom of the inning on Abreu’s sacrifice fly and Todd Frazier’s two-run homer on a Ross 3-0 pitch. It was Frazier’s 19^th of the season.

But Latos would retire 11 of the 20 batters and be charged with six runs on five hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings. After he left, the bullpen (which Ventura revealed was without right-hander Zach Putnam again because of elbow soreness) didn’t fare much better.

It’s becoming that kind of season.

“None of us are having fun right now,’’ Eaton said. “Baseball can be brutal.

“We’re definitely in a valley right now.

The Sox once led the AL Central by six games. Now they are in fourth place.

“They continue to battle,” manager Robin Ventura said of his team. “It hurts when you have the lead and you give it up. It’s that way for any team. They still come with it, but at the end of the day if you end up giving that up, it takes the wind out of you a bit.”