Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos First baseman Sean Casey reacts after watching the Pirates lose to the White Sox last night at PNC Park. Click photo for larger image. Looking Ahead: Game: White Sox (Garcia 9-4) vs. Pirates (Maholm 2-6), 7:05 p.m. Where: PNC Park. TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. More Coverage: Irate Pirates fans uncork wild pitches of frustration on Web Pirates Notebook: Pirates send Perez to bullpen Smizik: Former staff ace sinks to possible mop-up duty Game Statistics Provided by Forecaster Pirates vs. White Sox box score Game play-by-play

The Pirates began a stretch of games last night that, if nothing else, can teach them something about how teams that win do just that -- win.

They received Lesson No. 1 from the Chicago White Sox, who last year won the World Series and who efficiently beat the Pirates, 4-2, in front of an announced attendance of 24,976.

"We played a good ballgame," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "The White Sox played a little bit better. There are lessons to be learned in life and this game every day."

Tracy hopes his players watched how the White Sox put runners on base, moved runners along and got runners home.

"They do everything right," Pirates starter Ian Snell said. "That's the type of baseball good teams play. They help themselves a lot. They do every little thing right."

"They had one out that was not productive," Tracy said admiringly. "They're a terrific club. They pitch extremely well. They make every play. They do a terrific job offensively.

"And yet we hung right with them. We didn't do anything wrong."

The loss was the Pirates' 12th in a row, matching the post-1900 club record set Aug. 9-20, 1939. That team finished 68-85 and in sixth place.

"We're playing good baseball," Snell said. "Somehow, someway, we can't get a break. Nothing's happening."

"We just have to keep grinding it out and get some positive thing to happen," Joe Randa said.

"It's been tough," Tracy said. "Let's be totally upfront about that. Some losses have been gut-wrenching to take."

Perhaps more than half of them.

The Pirates, 26-52 overall, are 13-27 in games decided by one or two runs.

Tracy made a slight lineup change last night. He dropped center fielder Jose Bautista, who had been leading off, to second and put Jack Wilson in the first spot.

"Jose Bautista has been struggling of late," said Tracy, mindful Bautista was 1 for 13 in his previous four games. "We'll try to get Jose a little bit of breathing room and take the onus [of getting on base] off Bautista a little bit."

Might Tracy keep Wilson in the leadoff spot for the next couple of games?

"I'll start thinking about that [today]," he said.

The White Sox, winners of 10 of their past 11 games as they continue their relentless pursuit of the equally relentless Detroit Tigers, entered the game leading the American League in runs scored with 438.

They went right to work adding to their total.

Scott Podsednik opened the game with a single to left. He stole second and eased to third on Tadahito Iguchi's bouncing single to right.

Jim Thome ripped a bouncer to second baseman Jose Castillo's right that could have been a double play, but the ball zipped by Castillo for a single, scoring Podsednik and moving Iguchi to second.

After Jermaine Dye flied to left, A.J. Pierzynski hit a hard bouncer just to Jack Wilson's left. This also was a probable double-play ball, but it scooted through into center field, enabling Iguchi to score.

Snell and the Pirates finally caught a break after Joe Crede struck out.

Rob Mackowiak lined a single to right. Craig Wilson fielded the ball on a bounce and relayed to first baseman Sean Casey, who was a bit startled that Thome hadn't continued to the plate after rounding third.

Casey ran Thome back to third and tagged him for the final out of the five-hit inning.

So, OK, the White Sox weren't perfect.

Chicago scored another run in the second following a leadoff double by Juan Uribe. Pitcher Mark Buehrle sacrificed Uribe to third, from where he scored on Podsednik's sacrifice fly.

Buehrle limited the Pirates to singles by Casey and Freddy Sanchez through the first four innings. The hit by Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

The Pirates managed a run in the fifth and were about 2 feet away from taking the lead.

Craig Wilson's one-out infield hit to the left of the mound and Castillo's double put runners on second and third. Buehrle walked Ronny Paulino on four pitches.

Randa, batting for Snell, drove a ball to deep left field that Podsednik caught at the wall. Craig Wilson scored on the sacrifice fly before Jack Wilson fouled out.

The Pirates had an excellent chance to chip away further at the Chicago lead in the sixth, when Bautista drove a leadoff double into left field.

Bautista, however, never moved from second as Casey lined to second, Jason Bay, hitting just .231 (18 for 78) with runners in scoring position, fouled to first and Sanchez flied to center.

Craig Wilson pulled the Pirates to within a run with a leadoff home run into the right-field seats in the seventh.

The White Sox got that run back in the ninth.

Salomon Torres walked pinch-hitter Alex Cintron on a 3-2 pitch. Cintron moved around on Podsednik's sacrifice and Iguchi's bouncer to second.

Tracy brought in left-hander John Grabow to face Thome, who looped a 1-1 pitch into left field to score Cintron.

Disgruntled Pittsburgh Pirates fans show their support for Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to buy the team. The Pirates lost to the White Sox, 4-2, last night at PNC Park.