White Sox want Sale to take it slow and steady

The more worked up Chris Sale gets, the better he seems to pitch.

But the Chicago White Sox's No. 1 starting pitcher admitted he crossed the line a bit during Saturday night's start against the Twins.

After hitting Jorge Polanco with a pitch in the first inning to force home a run and put the Sox in a 2-0 hole, Sale twice hit himself in the side of the head with the baseball in his hand.

"I think when he gets amped up, that's what happens," manager Robin Ventura said Sunday, a day after Sale settled down following the rocky first inning and became baseball's first 7-game winner.

Sale credited pitching coach Don Cooper and second baseman Brett Lawrie for coming to the mound and calming him down, but he also called himself an "idiot" and said he needs to be more mature.

The White Sox don't mind the frequent fire because it's a big part of Sale's competitive nature. They just want to make sure Sale doesn't do something crazy - like give himself a concussion.

Part of the problem Saturday was Sale throwing way too hard in the first inning.

"This year, he has been a little more of a hybrid as far as velocity, taking a little off, being in the zone," Ventura said. "I think before, maybe his first couple years of starting, if he either got banged up a little bit or if it was an erratic inning, he would just throw it harder. I think that's what it seemed like last night."

Garcia surging:

Avisail Garcia looked like the weak link in the White Sox's lineup early in the season, and the designated hitter was batting a sickly .135 two weeks ago.

Garcia finally settled down and stopped swinging at so many pitches out of the strike zone, and his average is up to .256 as he's riding a nine-game hitting streak.

Garcia was 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored in Sunday's win over the Twins. He missed four games with a hamstring injury before returning to the lineup against Boston Thursday and picking up where he left off.

"When I pulled the hamstring, I was in my house practicing my mechanics," Garcia said. "No running, just trying to fix my mechanics and try to feel the same way."

Over the nine-game surge, Garcia is batting .467 (14-for-30) with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs and 6 RBI.

Wrong turn:

Jacob Turner was a candidate to come up from Class AAA Charlotte and audition for John Danks' former spot in the White Sox's rotation.

The Sox are giving Miguel Gonzalez another look, and the right-hander starts at Texas Monday night.

As for Turner, the Tigers' first-round draft pick (No. 9 overall) in 2009, he has cooled way off after a promising start with Charlotte.

Turner pitched against Gwinnett Sunday and allowed 4 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings. Over his last three starts, the 24-year-old right-hander has pitched 14.2 innings and given up 11 earned runs on 22 hits and 9 walks.