White Sox's Ventura likes what he sees in Anderson

When Tim Anderson was hit on the left wrist by a pitch leading off Thursday's game in Detroit, he said it felt like a 10 on the pain scale of 1-10.

The White Sox's rookie shortstop, though, was sure of one thing: It wasn't broken.

Anderson, who missed Friday's game against Baltimore but returned to his customary leadoff spot in the batting order Saturday, fractured his right wrist in high Class A ball two years ago and he could tell this was different.

Once he was on the bases Thursday, the pain threshold subsided to a 7, but he had to miss the rest of that game and Friday's due to the fact he couldn't grip a bat.

From a batting-average standpoint, Anderson has been a pleasant surprise for the Sox this season as he was hitting .264 before Saturday's game. The big issue, though, is that the 23-year-old has drawn just 3 walks in 211 plate appearances.

Sox manager Robin Ventura believes that one day Anderson can be more of a prototypical leadoff hitter.

"I don't just expect him to just automatically do that overnight," Ventura said. "But I think the more he's here and the more he plays, he has the potential to do that. He's an aggressive swinger, but he does have a good eye. He's a guy who can learn how to do that."

Anderson led off Saturday's 4-2 win with a double and scored on Melky Cabrera's double moments later. He managed to draw a third-inning walk, but couldn't lay off a 3-2 pitch that was well out of the strike zone in the seventh inning with the bases loaded.

"That was supposed to be another walk," Anderson said. "I shouldn't have swung at that pitch. Could have got another run in."

That's better:

After a wretched 9-for-48 July in which he drove in just 3 runs, Avisail Garcia seems to have found his hitting stroke again. The Sox's outfielder is 7-for-24 with 3 homers and 6 RBI in his last seven games.

Sox manager Robin Ventura said he didn't ever talk to Garcia about his struggles.

"The guys get to a point where they've had enough and they just go out and play and it's not about worrying about expectations or what's heaped upon you by everybody else," Ventura said. "It's just you get to a point where you're going to play and I know that's what he's doing."

Around the horn:

Second baseman Tyler Saladino is now 16-for-54 (.296) with 7 runs scored in his last 16 games. … Justin Morneau extended his hitting streak to eight games Saturday with a leadoff single in the seventh inning. Morneau is 10-for-31 (.323) during the streak.