Beckham's big night lifts Sox over Cleveland
Robin Ventura is patience personified.
Rarely has the White Sox' rookie manager shown even a hint of concern with one of his players. As a standout third baseman during his playing days, Ventura handled himself in much the same fashion.
But the major-league game is much different now.
Every at-bat — check that — every pitch is broken down and analyzed by a mass of prying eyes, so failure is dished out from game to game instead of week to week or month to month.
Ventura is very good at keeping his focus on the big picture, but he knows players have to produce at some point or step aside.
That brings us to Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham.
He didn't play against Boston on Sunday, and an 0-for-10 slide dropped his batting average to .153 heading into Tuesday night's game against the Indians.
Beckham has a great attitude, and a glove to match, but even Ventura couldn't gloss over the lack of offense.
“Eventually, you probably have to do something,” Ventura said.
After waiting out a 56-minute rain delay at U.S. Cellular Field, Beckham did just that.
In the White Sox' 7-2 win over the Indians, Beckham finally broke out.
He led off the third inning with a home run off Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez to snap a 1-1 tie. It was Beckham's first homer of the year.
Beckham led off the fourth inning with a single and added an RBI single with two outs in the fifth.
Welcome back?
“I hope,” Beckham said after raising his batting average from .153 to .190. “I just went out there and did what I'm supposed to do. It was fun. It was definitely a better game for me and I'm just going to keep rolling with it.”
If he is finally able to put two-plus disappointing seasons behind him, it would be nice to see that familiar bounce return to Beckham's step.
And can you imagine how much better the White Sox would be with a big bat at the bottom of the order?
“He swung it well,” Ventura said after the Sox won for the third time in as many tries against the Indians this season. “That's just a part of believing in himself and keep working at it. It does pay off.”
Beckham sparked a 4-run third and starting pitcher Chris Sale (3-1) and the White Sox were in complete control until Hector Santiago had another adventurous inning.
Pitching for the first time since blowing a 2-run lead in the 14th inning at Oakland last Wednesday, Santiago loaded the bases in the ninth on a hit and 2 walks while throwing 32 pitches.
To his credit, he didn't allow any runs, and the rookie left-hander didn't spoil Beckham's big night.
“It's a nice start to May, for sure,” Beckham said.
sgregor@dailyherald.com