CHICAGO -- Third-base coach Joe McEwing fell on his sword Monday night, which was a noble gesture, but that was just a part of what ailed the Chicago White Sox.

A club that couldn't buy any offense for three months is now getting hits, some of them impressively clutch, but the frayed seams are now coming from other parts of the garment.

Sure McEwing's decision to send Alexei Ramirez home with no outs in the ninth inning will go down as the rally killer that it was. But the White Sox also had some bad defense come up to bite them, especially from Avisail Garcia in right field, and a bullpen that had been a team strength at times was toyed with like a cat knocking around a mouse.

Still, McEwing probably won't take any solace in the fact he wasn't alone in sending the White Sox down the drain in a 5-4 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I take full responsibility for that; it's totally my fault," McEwing said. "I know it's a guy that throws above [average] and he's got a great arm and charges the ball hard. I take full responsibility for it. I messed up. I tried to put the pressure on the defense, but I take full responsibility for that."

A major problem with McEwing's blunder is that it happened under the spotlight of the

ninth inning in a close game. But Garcia made a pair of miscues in right field that led to two Rays runs. Meanwhile, in the bullpen, dependable relievers such as Jake Petricka, Zach Duke and David Robertson all gave up a run each in the late innings.

The White Sox have simply continued to be a team that can't get all parts of their game in sync.

An improved defense is what has helped the pitching staff to improve. The biggest endorsement for the defense came this past weekend from Jeff Samardzija, a pitcher who had been derailed by shoddy glove work behind him going all the way back to spring training.

If Samardzija was willing to give the defense the stamp of approval, it really had turned a corner. But Monday was one of those reminders that issues remain.

"Those things are glaring especially when you start playing as well as we've been playing defensively," manager Robin Ventura said. "You have a couple hiccups in there that end up costing you."

And while Samardzija and Carlos Rodon struggled in the starting rotation this past weekend, it was time for the bullpen to run into some problems. White Sox relievers entered with a 2.49 ERA over their past 26 games, the third lowest ERA in the major leagues since June 30.

Watching Petricka give up a run in the seventh inning, Duke give up one in the eighth and Robertson give up his in the ninth was a look that the bullpen hasn't revealed. Duke's run came on a long home run from Grady Sizemore.

"Yeah, I mean it's not too often that you're going to see Jake, myself and David each give up a run," Duke said. "In my case I threw a cutter that was supposed to be away and instead it just spun right in the middle of the plate, right in his swing. They had to work a little harder for the other guys. They got some hits in here and there. That's a tough night. We take it hard out there for sure."

Everybody faced the music, which was commendable, with McEwing facing questions right in the middle of the clubhouse as players dressed all around him.

Ramirez gave his best effort to save his third-base coach, by attempting to jump over waiting Rays catcher Curt Casali, but it was to no avail.

"It's a broken bat and [Ramirez's] first instinct is to freeze, freeze, freeze and it's the right instinct," McEwing said. "Like I said, I made a terrible decision to send him there. Instead of having first and third with nobody out, now we have a guy on second with one out. Like I said, it was a terrible decision and one I'll take on."

In many ways, being the third-base coach is a thankless job. Nobody has ever interviewed McEwing after his many good calls when sending a runner home. But it was just another example of the White Sox being unable to catch a break, or even get out of their own way.

"It's what we sign up for," McEwing said about never getting any glory. "It's our position and you never want the credit. But you'll take the blame, and that's part of the job and you put it all on your shoulders. That's fine."

A stand-up guy like that might carry this one around for a while. It won't matter to him that he wasn't alone Monday.

"My instinct was to send him and it was the wrong one," McEwing said.