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Moncada's career-high 6 RBI help Chicago White Sox roll over A's

The alarm clock went off for Yoan Moncada.

"I think he is probably getting a little bit of a wake-up call to himself in terms of where he sees himself," manager Rick Renteria said of the Chicago White Sox's 23-year-old second baseman. "I think he's also learning that, truly, you have to take every single pitch of the game into consideration because they all matter.

"His skill set hasn't disappeared. It's still there. Obviously a high skill set. But I think he's starting to realize mentally that, 'Maybe I have to have a little bit more focus and intensity.' "

They both were on display Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field in the Sox's 10-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.

In the fifth inning, Moncada came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. With the White Sox trailing 2-0, he blistered A's starter Paul Blackburn's first pitch off the right-field fence for a 3-run double.

Moncada's patient approach at the plate is rare for such a young player, but it also has been costly at times. The switch hitter ranks second in the major leagues with 106 strikeouts, and many have been looking.

"It's a process," Renteria said. "Here's a guy with a really good eye. Sometimes they don't want to swing at bad pitches, but I think Trick (hitting coach Todd Steverson) is trying to convince him if you do fire on a pitch, it's probably a good pitch. I think today he did that."

In the sixth inning, Moncada broke the game open with a 3-run homer off relief pitcher Liam Hendriks, giving him a career-high 6 RBI.

"Today was a great day," Moncada said through a translator. "I just went out to play the game the way that I played, just to have fun. It was a very good game for me."

While Moncada powered the Sox's offense, starting pitcher Carlos Rodon also had a banner day.

In easily his best start of the season after coming back from shoulder surgery and joining the White Sox's rotation on June 9, Rodon pitched 8 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits.

"We've always had a tough time with him when he's throwing strikes, and that's what he did today," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

Rodon threw 99 pitches against the A's and 69 were strikes.

"It was good to go eight and just be ahead of guys," Rodon said. "There's up-and-down days when you go through shoulder surgery, or any surgery for any player. You've just got to work through it and try to make your way back. I'm here now and it's looking up and I'm trying to get better."

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