It would be a gross understatement to call Jose Contreras' 2007 campaign a disappointment. The 35-year-old veteran has had by far the worst season of his Major League career, and was pitching so badly that he was relegated to the bullpen earlier this month to help get back his mechanics and confidence.

So when you have a year like that, sometimes it is possible to find some hope even in defeat.

Contreras gave up four runs to Kansas City over the first two innings on Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field, but limited the Royals to two baserunners over the next four in a 7-6 loss, as a late White Sox rally fell just short.

The much-maligned Contreras looked lost in the first two frames, giving up five hits, a walk and a hit batsman over that brief stretch. His velocity was slightly up from previous efforts, but he struggled to hit his spots.

"I wasn't thinking about location, I was just throwing the ball," said Contreras, through interpreter and bench coach Joey Cora. "That is why I got in trouble. After that, I started locating better and threw where Toby Hall wanted the ball. That is what I am going to take away from this game, make sure that I go with location instead of just power."

In a sign of things to come, Contreras plunked the second hitter of the game, Mark Grudzielanek, with a pitch squarely in the helmet. The Royals second baseman came around to score two batters later on a sacrifice fly from Billy Butler.

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