Ventura gets White Sox' 'attention,' then a victory
Robin Ventura called a rare team meeting before Saturday night's game at U.S. Cellular Field, and the White Sox didn't immediately respond.
As a matter of fact, the string of defensive blunders continued and 3 errors wound up costing the Sox a 3-2 loss to the Angels.
When the poor fielding continued in Monday night's 10-3 setback at Minnesota, Ventura tried a different strategy.
Five hours before the Sox were scheduled to play the Twins on Tuesday, the White Sox reportedly went through a 45-minute practice session at Target Field.
“You get their attention and they realize the things that you consider unacceptable,” Ventura told reporters. “There are consequences to everything that goes on. I'm supposed to be quality control in this. That's part of coming out here and making sure everybody is doing it the way they're supposed to be doing it.”
The Sox proceeded to make an error in their sixth straight game (and 30th overall) when first baseman Adam Dunn appeared to have some web issues with his glove and failed to catch a perfect throw from shortstop Alexei Ramirez.
Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing for the White Sox in a 4-2 victory over Minnesota.
The Sox took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Dunn led off with a home run against Twins starter Kevin Correia (4-3) and Dayan Viciedo followed with another solo shot.
White Sox starter Jake Peavy (5-1) made the lead hold up until Minnesota's Justin Morneau doubled and scored on Oswaldo Arcia's single in the fifth inning, even though catcher Tyler Flowers appeared to tag Morneau out after right fielder Alex Rios made a strong throw to the plate.
In the seventh inning, the Twins tied it at 2-2 when Josh Willingham led off with a double and scored on Trevor Plouffe's two-out single.
Peavy pitched another strong game, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings. The right-hander got the win when Flowers put the Sox in front for good in the eighth with an RBI double. Ramirez's single scored Flowers.
Paul Konerko sat out his second straight game, but his absence isn't injury related. Ventura is trying to keep his captain as fresh as possible.
Not only is Konerko 37, he's mired in a 3-for-25 slump that has dropped his batting average to .214. He hasn't hit a home run since April 28.
Konerko's expected to play Wednesday afternoon when the White Sox wrap up a three-game series against the Twins.
“I came in ready to play, but it didn't surprise me after the conversation we had,” Konerko told reporters, referring to a talk with Ventura. “Obviously, I could have played yesterday. I could have played today, so it's not like I'm out for some reason. I'm trusting (Ventura) on that and trying to make the best of it.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com