Chicago White Sox fall short 2-1 at Oakland
The White Sox are a team that was in desperate need for some new blood after posting a third straight losing season last year.
After winning two straight at Oakland to open the season, the White Sox lost to the Athletics 2-1 Wednesday night.
In the first inning, Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon gave up a Jed Lowrie sacrifice fly. In the second, Mark Canha homered off Rodon.
The White Sox's run came in the third inning, when Austin Jackson led off with a double against Oakland ace Sonny Gray and wound up scoring on Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly.
The newcomers were out in force again during Wednesday's game against the A's.
Alex Avila was back behind the plate, where he is platooning with another new catcher, Dioner Navarro.
Todd Frazier, who hit a big 3-run homer in Tuesday night's 5-4 win, is the White Sox' new third baseman.
Rollins, the new shortstop, hit a home run in the ninth Tuesday to snap a 4-4 tie.
Brett Lawrie, the new second baseman, brings the daily energy the Sox have been lacking, and Jackson is the new center fielder.
It is still very early in the season, but so far all of the new faces have blended in nicely with each other and the holdovers.
"We have more veteran guys," manager Robin Ventura said. "There are a lot of guys who are more comfortable in their own skin and understand what it takes to go through it and how to be a teammate and pick somebody else up.
"I've been around teams that are kind of like this. You might have Jose (Abreu) and then a bunch of good players and it could play well together. And that was noticed early in spring that it could play well together.
"I like the feeling that they have right now. And I think they do, too."
Lawrie is expected to provide some pop lower in the lineup, but his presence already is being felt in the clubhouse.
"This is a great team," said Rodon, who took the loss Wednesday after pitching 7 innings and allowing 2 runs on 7 hits. "Lot of energy. Brett Lawrie brings a lot of energy to the field, and I like it. Great teammate. Todd Frazier, great addition. And the guys we had last year, they can hit and we can pitch.
"Losing like we did last year is never fun. We had some runs where we won a lot of games and it looked like we were coming around and then it turns back on us. Baseball can be a cruel game. Sometimes it's nice to you, sometimes it's not."