All season, Ted Lilly has downplayed his workload. He has said he sees no reason to be concerned that he's on pace to throw nearly 200 innings. He has said he hasn't given much credence to the notion that he might fatigue quickly. A steady progression of solid outings seemed to back his words. Lilly, it seemed, wasn't showing signs of getting tired. He was showing signs of getting better. But Wednesday brought the original concern back to the forefront. Lilly was hit hard in the A's 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox in front of 20,715 at Network Associates Coliseum.

Lilly lasted just 3-1/3 innings, matching John Halama's stint last Thursday at Chicago as the shortest by an A's starter this season. He allowed five runs on eight hits, with two doubles, a triple and a home run spread amongst the damage.

"I was more or less trying to find one pitch I could get ahead with," Lilly said. "I got myself into a jam too often. I made it tough on myself by getting behind in the count. I didn't have that go-to pitch to get myself out of a jam."

The loss itself was hardly reason for panic. The A's had won three straight, nine of 11 and 12 of 16 entering the night. They still are 20-13 and only one game back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West.

That they lost to Chicago starter Esteban Loaiza likely took some of the sting away, too. Loaiza improved to 6-1,one win behind Mike Mussina, by allowing two runs over six innings. Loaiza, whose 2.36 ERA ranks fifth in the AL, is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA against the A's over the past two seasons.

Throw in the fact that the A's had beaten the White Sox 10 consecutive times at home and five straight times overall, and it was reasonable to expect the A's might be in for a rare clunker. The loss marked just the fourth time all season they've lost by more than three runs.

That said, Lilly's outing was the equivalent of a red flare, if only because of what preceded it.

Lilly (2-2, 4.10) was making his seventh start, and he'd totaled 38-1/3 innings in his first six, an average of slightly more than six per start. Not much for some, perhaps, but Lilly has never pitched more than 137-1/3 innings at any level and never more than 120-1/3 innings in the majors.

His seven-week stint on the disabled list because of left shoulder weakness late last season only adds to the issue.

Lilly has said those facts don't concern him. He has said the offseason adjustments to his delivery that have put his fastball consistently in the low 90-mph range also have put less stress on his arm.

But pitching coach Rick Peterson has said he's well aware that Lilly likely will be negotiating uncharted waters this season, and that the A's will monitor him closely. Lilly was given an extra day's rest before his previous start against the New York Yankees for just that reason.

That he wasn't given another one this time was peculiar. Lilly pitched 5ª innings against the Yankees, the last couple of which were difficult. How that stress translated against the White Sox is uncertain, but Lilly clearly was not the same pitcher he'd been.

That became clear in the third. With one out, Tony Graffanino doubled, Frank Thomas singled and Magglio Ordonez tripled. Each hit was a loud one, and only Eric Byrnes' leaping effort kept Ordonez's shot from being a home run. Byrnes reached at least a foot over the wall to get his glove on Ordonez's drive but lost the ball as he was bringing it back. The ball rolled along the top of the fence before dropping onto the warning track.

Paul Konerko's ensuing grounder turned into a throwing error by second baseman Mark Ellis, and Joe Crede and Carlos Lee followed with singles. Add that four-run inning to Miguel Olivo's solo homer in the second, and Lilly's night was a forgettable one.

Same for some of his teammates. Shortstop Miguel Tejada homered, but he made two throwing errors (one of which led to a run), giving him 10 errors this season. Ellis also made two throwing errors.