Rodon roughed up in White Sox's loss to Tigers
Heading into Saturday night's game against the Tigers, Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon had an impressive streak of five quality starts.
They came against four first-place teams (Indians, Red Sox, Astros, Dodgers) and a wild-card contender (Twins).
Detroit (56-72) figured to be easy pickings, but Rodon was off his game in the White Sox's 6-3 loss to the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Today wasn't very good,” Rodon said after pitching 5 innings and allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, including back-to-back home runs by Justin Upton and Miguel Cabrera in the third. “They hit the ball well and made me pay on some pitches I missed on.”
Rodon tweaked his routine to try to improve fastball velocity early in the game, but the results weren't there the first time out.
“As a player and as an athlete, you have to adapt and make those changes,” Rodon said. “It's something I'm going to learn how to do.”
Delmonico to DL:
Before Saturday night's game against the Tigers, the White Sox placed outfielder Nicky Delmonico on the disabled list with a sprained right wrist.
“It's enough to shut him down a little bit,” manager Rick Renteria said. “We'll see how he progresses over the next couple days. Time will tell how quickly he'll be able to return, but it's obviously aggravated so we've got to give it some time to calm down.”
Delmonico hurt the wrist swinging the bat in Thursday night's game against the Twins. Since coming up from Class AAA Charlotte on Aug. 1, the rookie is batting .307 with 6 home runs and 12 RBI while reaching base safely in 21 of 22 games.
Rob Brantly replaces Delmonico on the Sox's roster after having his contract purchased from Charlotte.
Lopez update:
On the disabled list since Aug. 18 with a back strain, rookie starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw a bullpen on Friday and is scheduled to throw another one Tuesday in Minnesota.
“I'm feeling good,” Lopez said through an interpreter. “I don't have any discomfort, any soreness. At first I was a little concerned because I didn't know if that was something more complicated. But with all the treatment, I've been feeling good.”
After his next bullpen, Lopez plans on coming off the DL. “It's game,” he said.
Davidson returns:
Matt Davidson was back in the White Sox's lineup Saturday for the first time since Aug. 1, when he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch from Toronto's Marcus Stroman.
Davidson was the designated hitter against Detroit and was 2-for-4.
“I feel great,” Davidson said. “During the whole DL stint I was able to work out and take groundballs and everything. It's just kind of more getting into the game, getting into the timing of the game.”