White Sox's Renteria not 'too concerned' with Dunning's health status

The Chicago White Sox are guardedly optimistic that Dane Dunning, one of their top pitching prospects, is going to be OK.

In Saturday night's start with Class AA Birmingham, Dunning had to leave the game with two outs in the fourth inning with an apparent elbow injury.

"I think everybody considered it a very moderate strain," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "Nobody is at this point too concerned. They still have to re-evaluate more. We won't know more until they get further evaluation and at that point everybody will know where he's at."

Along with current Sox starters Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito, Dunning was acquired in the Dec. 7, 2016, trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals.

Rated by Baseball America as the White Sox's fifth-best prospect, Dunning is 5-2 with a 2.76 ERA in 11 starts with Birmingham. The 23-year-old righty opened the season at high Class A Winston-Salem and was promoted after going 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 4 starts.

One and done:

Leading 10-2 in the ninth inning Sunday, Sox manager Rick Renteria replaced starter Carlos Rodon with reliever Bruce Rondon.

After Rondon walked Oakland leadoff hitter Khris Davis on four pitches, Renteria pulled Rondon for Xavier Cedeno.

"When I went out to talk to (Rondon) I said, 'You know what? I don't see you right right now and I'm just going to help you out,'" Renteria said. "I wanted to make sure that there was nothing going on.

"He said the mound was a little funky. He wanted to stay in. He said, 'Let me keep working.' I said, 'No. You know what? Let me do this for you right now.' And that was it.

"I didn't want him to have any issues developing because of that hill. He wanted to stay in, but I just thought at that time, it was something I had to do. This is a club (Athletics) that can do a lot of different things, and I was not going to let them have any window of opportunity to start opening it up, so we did what we did."

Charlotte watch:

Injured Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez (shoulder) made his first rehab start with Class AAA Charlotte on Sunday.

Out since mid-April with rotator-cuff inflammation, Gonzalez pitched 3 scoreless innings against Toledo, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk to go with 1 strikeout. The 34-year-old righty threw 37 pitches.

Playing in his fourth game with Charlotte after being promoted from AA Birmingham, outfielder Eloy Jimenez hit his first home run, a solo shot in the first inning.

Jimenez also had an RBI single in the eighth inning that was the difference in the Knights' 5-4 win.

Covey update:

A day after Dylan Covey was removed from his start early with right-hip soreness, his status still was uncertain.

"He's feeling good," Rick Renteria said. "We're still going to continue to evaluate him and we'll have more information on Tuesday."

Defensive specialist:

A 4-for-26 slump has dropped Adam Engel's batting average to .211.

The center fielder has remained in the White Sox's starting lineup because of his defensive skills.

"I haven't limited his usage out there based on his bat," Rick Renteria said. "I think his jumps over the last month, maybe six weeks, have really gotten better. He's really been getting off the ball very, very well, running down some difficult plays."