Slumping Anderson comes through for White Sox
Tim Anderson was mired in another slump heading into Wednesday night's game, and the White Sox shortstop's slide ran to 1-for-20 when he was hitless in his first three trips to he plate. Manager Rick Renteria was aware of Anderson's struggles, but not overly concerned.
"Timmy Anderson has always been an aggressive fastball hitter," Renteria said. "If it's in the zone, he gets it. Obviously, we see him chasing breaking balls in the dirt. That's not something that is new to who he is. Even coming up through the minor leagues, he had a high chase rate on breaking balls."
Anderson came up to the plate with runners on first and second base in the ninth inning Wednesday. With one out, he singled on a 1-0 changeup, scoring Avisail Garcia from second base and rallying the Sox to a 4-3 win over the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"It's a confidence booster," Renteria said.
Another struggling young hitter, Yoan Moncada, tied the game at 3 with an RBI double in the eighth inning.
James Shields delivered another solid start for the White Sox, allowing 3 runs in 3 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings.
Shields has dropped his arm slot and has been getting nore groundballs and strikeouts.
"I used to throw over the top but I've always been a three-quarters guy," Shields said. "I've dropped down a little more and I've been throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters."
Innings watch:
Lucas Giolito made his first start for the White Sox Tuesday night after coming up from Class AAA Charlotte.
The right-hander's next start is Sunday against the Tigers, but the Sox are keeping an eye on his workload. The 23-year-old righty has never pitched more than 117 innings in a professional season.
This year, Giolito is at 134⅔ innings. He pitched 6 innings against the Twins Tuesday and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits (3 homers) while throwing 99 pitches.
"With all the guys we do think about it, absolutely," manager Rick Renteria said of season innings limits. "My only thing right now is I was really happy with Gio's outing last night. I know the results in terms of victory or loss, he did carry some pitches out over the plate more than he wanted to, but that had more to do with missing his spot than the actual pitch."
Minor matters:
Out since Aug. 6 with a sprained ankle, 20-year-old outfield prospect Luis Robert returned to the Dominican Summer League White Sox on Wednesday and was 0-for-4 as designated hitter.
Class A Winston-Salem starting pitcher Alec Hansen struck out 8 Tuesday night in a 7-3 win against Carolina.
The Sox's second-round pick leads minor-league baseball with 174 strikeouts (in 131 innings).