Delmonico wastes little time setting White Sox record
Outfielder Nicky Delmonico is still new to the Chicago White Sox, but his name is already in the record books.
After having his contract purchased from Class AAA Charlotte on Aug. 1 when Willy Garcia landed on the disabled list with a concussion, Delmonico was inserted into the starting lineup and he immediately started hitting.
In Saturday night's 5-4 loss to the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field, the 25-year-old Delmonico became the first player in White Sox history to reach base safely in the first 11 games of his career, according to Elias.
Melky Cabrera, traded from the Sox on July 30, hit a 2-run homer off reliever Aaron Bummer in the eighth inning for K.C. to decide the outcome.
"I've got a lot of friends over there," Cabrera said through an interpreter. "I liked it there. But I'm here with Kansas City now, and I'm trying to help this club win."
Delmonico, who singled off Royals starter Ian Kennedy leading off the second inning, was tied with Mel Simons (1931) and Larry Rosenthal (1936) as the only Sox hitter to reach base safely in each of his first 10 games.
After going 1-4 against the Royals, Delmonico has a .366/.463/.422 hitting line.
"I'm absolutely pleased, but not surprised," manager Rick Renteria said of Delmonico's early success with the White Sox. "I think everybody saw what he was capable of doing in the spring. I think he went down to Triple-A and continued to play the game the way he knows how to play the game.
"He's actually a pretty savvy young man in terms of what he wants to do at the plate, how he wants to handle a certain situation. He reads defenses and knows that he can take advantage of situations at certain times."
More history:
Jose Abreu hit a solo home run in the fourth inning Saturday, his 20th of the season. He hit another solo shot in the sixth.
The 30-year-old first baseman is the first player in Sox history to start his major-league career with 20 or more homers in four straight seasons.
"I'm happy because that's something you work for," Abreu said through an interpreter. "I want to thank God I could do that because I'm healthy. You can't do things like that if you'e not healthy."
Davidson update:
Matt Davidson, who leads the White Sox with 22 home runs, has been out since Aug. 2 with a sore right wrist. He was hit by a pitch from Toronto's Marcus Stroman the day before.
Davidson was hoping to be back this week when the Sox open a two-game interleague series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, but that timetable has been moved back.
"Right now, I couldn't give you a time certain to when he will return," manager Rick Renteria said. "He's still feeling it a little bit and we're going to continue to do everything we can to continue to calm it down and then get him ready to return."