01:00 AM EDT on Monday, July 25, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

CHICAGO --

It was a tough day for Bronson Arroyo even before he threw his first pitch.

"In the bullpen I had the worst breaking ball I've had in two years. It was just rolling in there," said Arroyo.

His breaking ball didn't get any better during the game, either, one reason he suffered through a rocky beginning in the Red Sox' 6-4 loss to the White Sox yesterday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Arroyo was stung for two runs in the first (double by Paul Konerko), two runs in the second (homer by Tadahito Iguchi) and another run in the third (double by Ross Gload). He settled down after that, yielding only one more run, tacked on when Jeremi Gonzalez gave up a single to Taguchi in the seventh, but it just wasn't his day.

"The three hits that did a lot of damage I didn't feel were real bad pitches," said Arroyo, who dropped to 8-6.

"He was not commanding early like he usually does, but I thought they hit some good pitches against him," said manager Terry Francona.

Neither the heat (100 degrees at game time) nor the fact his name has been floated in trade rumors affected him, he said.

"I wasn't sweating that much at all. When you're out there it's hard to think about anything else but pitching," said Arroyo, brushing off the rumored trade to Florida.

Running not his forte

Kevin Millar made a baserunning blunder that seemingly cost the Red Sox at least a run in the sixth inning.

Millar pulled a one-out line drive down the left-field and tried to stretch the hit into a double. Millar, one of baseball's slowest runners, was handily thrown out by left fielder Scott Podsednik.

The timing of Millar's baserunning gamble was suspect. Boston was trailing, 5-2. The unsuccessful risk was made more glaring when Jason Varitek, the next hitter, clubbed a homer to left-center. The next two hitters also reached, though Boston didn't score any more runs in the inning.

"When Jason hit the homer, I felt, 'Bummer, should have been two runs,' " said Millar. "I should have made a better read on the ball as fast as he was getting to the ball. The ball was in flight (on the throw to second) when I was halfway down the line, and I should have slammed the brakes on, but I didn't. After Jason's homer, those things sting."

Hanley gets around

Prized prospect Hanley Ramirez made his debut for Portland yesterday at third base as the Red Sox continue to expose him to other positions in an attempt to expand his versatility, giving him and the organizations more options, a philosophy mentioned earlier this week by Boston general manager Theo Epstein.

Ramirez has been a shortstop for almost all of his four-plus-year career with the Red Sox, but even in spring training there was talk of moving him to center field. That hasn't happened yet, but last week the Sox had him playing second base. And now he's at third, which may or may not have anything to do with the rumors that third baseman Bill Mueller might be traded before the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline.

Draft pick signed

According to published reports, the Red Sox have signed right-hander Craig Hansen, their projected closer of the future, to a four-year deal worth a total of $4 million.

Hansen was the 26th pick of the draft in June after a stellar career at St. John's University, where he was the Big East pitcher of the year and a first-time All-American. He was one of the top-rated prospects in the draft, but fell because teams were worried about signing him. His agent is tough negotiator Scott Boras.

The hard-throwing Hansen is expected to get in shape in Fort Myers before the Sox assign him to a minor-league club.

Looking for an escape

The intense, searing heat prompted some extra cool-down measures all around the ballpark.

At one point, a grounds crew member turned the hose on the crowd, spraying them with water. Chicago pitcher Freddy Garcia sat in the dugout with a wet towel wrapped around his head. Third-base umpire Larry Poncino wrapped a wet towel around his neck between innings. During breaks in the action, the umpires were handed bottles of water by the White Sox' security staff members.

The players consumed plenty of liquids in an effort to stay hydrated.

Veritek catches his man

Podsednik was leading the majors with 50 stolen bases. Varitek had thrown out only 7 of 43 base-stealers (16 percent).

But in the fourth inning yesterday, the Red Sox catcher threw a strike, gunning down Podsednik, who was trying to swipe second base with two outs. It was the 11th time Podsednik had been caught this season, also tops in the majors.

Cora covers more ground

Shortstop Edgar Renteria was out of the starting lineup, giving him a bit of a breather.

"The hardest thing for fans to understand is players not playing every day, especially when they make so much money today," said Francona. "But I have to make sure they don't get run into the ground."

Alex Cora started in place of Renteria and again showed his versatility and usefulness to the team.

Cora, who had turned a couple of double plays as the starting second baseman Saturday night, was solid in the field at shortstop, starting a pair of double plays. He also contributed a sacrifice fly and two singles to the Red Sox' offense, though he did whiff with two on and one out in the sixth.

Around the bases

Varitek went 17 games without hitting a home run before connecting Saturday night. He went deep again yesterday, marking the third time this season he has homered in back-to-back games . . . Renteria and batting-practice pitcher Eno Guerrero, sitting in the far corner of the Red Sox' dugout on the first-base side, had to scatter quickly when the bat flew out of the hands of A.J. Pierzynski and flew in their direction in the eighth.

Joe McDonald contributed to this report.