White Sox blank Yankees with strong start from Gonzalez
In his last five starts for the Chicago White Sox heading into Wednesday night's outing against the New York Yankees, Miguel Gonzalez was up, down, up, down and up, respectively.
The trend strongly indicated Gonzalez was headed for a fall at U.S. Cellular Field, but the right-hander bucked the odds and was brilliant in the Sox's 5-0 win.
"Just staying focused, not trying to do too much, staying within myself and letting the defense play," Gonzalez said after allowing just 5 hits over 7 innings against a Yankees team that scored 9 runs and had 20 hits Tuesday night.
"And especially staying down in the zone is really important," Gonzalez added. "The rest of the pitches are going to be there as long as I'm down and staying aggressive in the zone."
Having now pitched 7-plus innings in back-to-back starts for the first time since May of last season, when he was with the Baltimore Orioles, Gonzalez could be a big asset for the White Sox in the second half.
The White Sox jumped on New York starter Michael Pineda for 4 runs with 2 outs in the second inning.
After Avisail Garcia opened the scoring with an RBI single, J.B. Shuck drove in a run with a double and rookie Tim Anderson followed with a 2-run double.
Not only have the Sox gone 11-5 over their last 16 games, they've won five straight series (Boston, Toronto, Minnesota, Houston, New York) for the first time since 2013.
"We learned from our success early on," right fielder Adam Eaton said. "We learned from our failure last month and right now we're kind of riding the wave again. But we want to make sure that we keep our successes in line and have them continue. And then we do have a lull or a dip in the season, to get out of it quickly."
Fulmer on fast track?
After a rough first two months at Class AA Birmingham, top pitching prospect Carson Fulmer has put himself on the White Sox's radar for the second half of the season.
Starting against Chattanooga Wednesday, Fulmer allowed 2 runs in 5 innings while striking out 10.
The No. 8 overall draft pick in 2015, Fulmer has allowed only 2 runs in 19 innings in his last three starts with the Barons. The right-hander also has 22 strikeouts over that span.
While he's projected as a future starter, Fulmer could find himself in the Sox's bullpen at some point after the all-star break.
"Is he someone who could help in the second half?" White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper asked. "I'm always thinking that. I've been thinking that for a while. We did it with (Chris) Sale for a year and a half. Why wouldn't it be the same deal with him? Maybe getting your feet wet in relief, finding spots and getting some experience, getting a lay of the land.
"We'll make a change if and when we think it's appropriate. He kind of fits the bill for me in everything that he does to maybe start out as a reliever first and get his career started that way. He's kind of a high-strung guy, too, so maybe that could play better out there in the bullpen than it might be starting."
Narvaez joins Sox:
With Alex Avila back on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, the White Sox purchased catcher Omar Narvaez's contract from Class AAA Charlotte before Wednesday's win over the Yankees.
"It feels like a lot of happiness," Narvaez said. "It's like every ballplayer's dream, come up here and do the best we can do."
Dioner Navarro figures to do the bulk of the catching until Avila returns from his second right hamstring strain of the season.
Narvaez has no major-league experience. After spending the entire 2015 season with high Class A Winston-Salem, he batted a combined .239 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI with AA Birmingham and 18 runs scored over 54 combined games between Class AA Birmingham and Charlotte this season.