Ramirez goes 0-for-3 in first home game with Sox

There was plenty of controversy Friday night, but Manny Ramirez's hair was not involved.

While home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez was calling 2 balks on White Sox starter Mark Buehrle under the watchful eye of crew chief Joe West, Ramirez made his U.S. Cellular Field debut.

More newsworthy, Ramirez played his first home game for the Sox with his dreadlocks still longer than chairman Jerry Reinsdorf prefers.

"I trimmed it a little bit," Ramirez said before going 0-for-3 while drawing a key walk in the eighth inning. "(Bench coach) Joey (Cora) came up to me and said, 'You have to trim it a little bit.' So I did it and let's see."

Ramirez has had his hair trimmed three times since the Sox claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers nearly two weeks ago. That is good enough for general manager Kenny Williams.

"It's nice and neat," Williams said. "There's no issue. We had to bend a little and he bent a little. The next guy that comes here with 500 home runs, maybe we'll bend the rules a little, too."

Garcia update: Freddy Garcia had an epidural Thursday after coming out of his last two starts with back pain.

Ozzie Guillen said there is still a chance Garcia can make his Sunday start against the Royals, but don't count on it.

"I got this shot (Thursday), so it's three days until the medicine kicks in," Garcia said. "We'll see from there. I don't think I'm pitching Sunday. I have to throw a bullpen first. Probably, I'll throw a bullpen Sunday. I don't know."

Jenks update: Sox reliever Bobby Jenks said he is dealing with ulnar neuritis, caused by irritation of the nerve running behind his right elbow joint.

"The explanation I got is there is a muscle inside there that keeps getting inflamed and irritated," Jenks said. "I get to a certain point and it's rubbing the nerve. There's no structural or ligament damage. We have to wait for that muscle to cool down so it stops shooting tingles down my fingers."

Jenks hasn't pitched since last Saturday, when he saved both games of a doubleheader at Boston. He pitched 3 innings at Kansas City on Aug. 22 and 1-plus innings three other times.

Did the heavy workload cause the injury?

"I can't pinpoint it," Jenks said. "I know when I started feeling it; it was after the doubleheader."

Beckham update: After missing three games with a sore right hand, Gordon Beckham was back in the lineup Friday night.

Beckham was 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts.

"It's not killing me, but I still feel it," said Beckham, who was hit on the hand by a pitch at Cleveland on Aug. 30. "We don't have a lot of time so I've got to go through it. I'm actually very fortunate that it didn't hit me on the knuckle or the wrist because I think if it hits anywhere but where it did, I have a broken hand."