‘Frustrating’ times for White Sox
It wasn’t all A-Rod on Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Without a doubt, Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees’ disgraced third baseman, was the hot topic, but White Sox general manager Rick Hahn appeased the regular local media with a post-nonwaiver trade deadline update.
Considering they still have the second-worst record (41-69) in baseball after snapping a 10-game losing streak with an 8-1 victory over the Yankees, Hahn was not in the best of moods.
Scoring 15 runs while going 0-7 on a road trip to Cleveland and Detroit was particularly vexing.
“It was obviously a historically bad road trip for us, and we are in a bad spot in terms of our performance right now,” Hahn said. “It’s extremely frustrating for everyone associated with it, and especially our pitchers.”
The White Sox erupted for 8 runs on 14 hits Monday against New York starter Andy Pettitte and four relief pitchers.
“We had a good approach, and you get fortunate with some balls that fall in early,” manager Robin Ventura said after the Sox jumped on Pettitte for 7 runs on 11 hits (10 singles) through the first three innings.
Jose Quintana (6-3), who pitched in the Yankees’ minor-league system before signing with the White Sox, allowed 1 run on 8 hits in 62⁄3 innings to pick up the win.
In his previous 4 starts, Quintana got 6 total runs of support.
“I feel happy because we’re on the winning side,” Quintana said through a translator. “I got good run support, but I tried to think of the game being 0-0.”
Left fielder Dayan Viciedo exited the game with a jammed left thumb in the bottom of the first inning, but X-rays were negative. He’s day to day.
Trade front:The July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline has passed, but look for Sox GM Rick Hahn to pull a deal or two in August, especially if the Texas Rangers come looking for Alex Rios after right fielder Nelson Cruz was suspended 50 games Monday for his link to Biogenesis.#147;Just because we passed Aug. 1, it doesn#146;t mean the activity has ceased,#148; Hahn said. #147;If everything rolls the right way, we won#146;t hesitate to do something. It#146;s a matter of aligning not just with the talent and the economics, but making sure it#146;s the right fit for us going forward.#147;There#146;s no pressure to do anything from an economic standpoint or just for the sake of let#146;s mix things up. We are going to do it to make sense for the organization for the long term.#148;Garcia update:Avisail Garcia, acquired from the Detroit Tigers last Wednesday in the three-way trade that sent Jake Peavy to the Boston Red Sox, continued to tear it up for Class AAA Charlotte on Monday night.Garcia was 3-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBI. In five games with the Knights, the outfielder is batting .389 with 1 home run and 7 RBI.Is Garcia heading to the White Sox soon?#147;We#146;ll see,#148; Rick Hahn said. #147;I don#146;t have a magic time frame on it. There certainly are those who feel he#146;s ready to contribute at the big-league level. If the opportunity presented itself, he could be here fairly soon.#148;