CHICAGO -- Veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel was brought to Chicago to help fortify a young rotation and to show what it takes to high at the highest level.
After the White Sox's third straight loss Monday evening -- a 5-1 setback to the Tigers in Detroit -- Keuchel vocalized his frustration in some of his teammates failing to meet that standard. He called the team's play "very subpar."
"We came out flat tonight," Keuchel said. "We have some guys taking professional at-bats, being professional on the mound and doing what it takes to win, and we’ve got some guys going through the motions. So we need to clean a lot of things up."
The White Sox fell to 8-9 with their fifth loss in six games, recording eight hits but not seriously threatening often offensively.
"I would have liked to see the team play better after a deflating loss last night," Keuchel said, referencing a tough 5-4 loss to the Indians in 10 innings Sunday night. "When you have talent to win every game, it's very frustrating to have games like this when you look out of it from the get-go."
Keuchel was asked to detail more specifically what he saw from his teammates in the loss.
"We got in late after a tough game against the Indians," he said. "It seemed like we were taking the night off. We can't afford that with a young core we have here. You must show up every day, and even if there are no fans, you must be ready to go. If you are not ready to go, you must fake it to make it. This was one of the first games that I have seen from us with very subpar play. If you love baseball, show up every day and show you are ready to go. There will be a lot of learning curves for this team. If you can't be ready to go at 2 p.m. and want to dominate the other guy every day, you are in the wrong sport."
Keuchel went six-plus innings, allowing three runs, all earned, on six hits while striking out four and walking two. He left with no outs in the bottom of the seventh after allowing a leadoff triple to Jeimer Candelario and an RBI single to Victor Reyes, which extended the Tigers' lead to 3-1.
Keuchel was irked by home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna's strike zone as well as the lack of edge that his teammates displayed.
"All the heat maps said he was giving pitches all around before the game," Keuchel said. "It wasn't like I was missing too much. I said to him, 'Where do you have those pitches?' Nobody is perfect, but I expect a professional job game in and game out. I put forth the effort to be ready myself. I didn't work out tonight, but hopefully he will have a little better zone next time out."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.