Rookies Gimenez, Valbuena power Tribe past ChiSox

CHICAGO (AP) — While the Cleveland Indians celebrated a rare road triumph delivered by a bunch of rookies, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was furious with his flailing team.

Chris Gimenez and Luis Valbuena hit consecutive home runs off former Cleveland ace Bartolo Colon and the Indians beat Chicago 8-4 on Sunday, handing the White Sox their fifth loss in six games.

“It’s so disappointing when you play like that,” Guillen said. “It takes the wind out of you.

“We don’t know what to do,” Guillen said. “Everything we try doesn’t work. Maybe if I go crazy with the media and [rip] my team ... I might wake them up. But it’s wasting my time.”

The White Sox have been outscored 35-17 in going 2-5 on a homestand that concludes with a five-game series against first-place Detroit.

The defending AL Central champions, who are 41‚Ñ2 games behind the Tigers and only 21‚Ñ2 games ahead of last-place Cleveland, are 2 for 39 with runners in scoring position in their last six games.

Chicago had a chance to get back into Sunday’s game in the eighth but couldn’t put together a big rally. Ramon Castro walked with the bases loaded and nobody out to cut it to 8-4 but Rafael Perez struck out Brian Anderson and Jayson Nix before retiring Gordon Beckham on a diving catch by center fielder Trevor Crowe.

“We had a great opportunity ... and we did what we do best: strike out,” Guillen said, adding that “a good percent” of his players are choking under pressure. The manager then left the interview room spewing expletives about his team.

Rookie David Huff (1-2) allowed three runs — all on Alexei Ramirez’s homer — in five innings to earn his first career victory.

Gimenez, Valbuena and Huff are playing because the Indians have been decimated by injuries. They currently have eight players on the disabled list.

“Those guys did great,” said Jamey Carroll, who doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs. “To see those guys come up and have success like that, it kind of energizes you. You can have some fun.”

The Indians hadn’t been having much fun on the road. They are 13-20 away from Cleveland and this was only the second road series they’ve won all season.

“Anytime you take two of three on the opponents’ turf, it’s huge,” said Gimenez, who has homered in each of his two games since being called up from the minors.