Engel, Chicago White Sox make late push in 9-7 loss to Indians
Adam Engel made a bad day a lot less worse.
In the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Chicago White Sox were getting shellacked 9-1.
Cleveland looked to make the score even more lopsided when Yonder Alonso connected off reliever Thyago Vieira, but Engel came through with another great catch in center field.
"That's something I take a lot of pride in, show up every day and trying to help the team win in any way that I can," Engel said. "Defensively, it's something I know I can count on. Just make sure to try to work on that every day. Make sure I stay sharp and offensively hopefully I can get it going."
Engel robbed Alonso of a 3-run homer with a leaping catch over the fence. He also took away home runs from the New York Yankees' Greg Bird on Monday and Kyle Higashioka on Tuesday.
"Just the chances of there being three balls in one week that you have the opportunity to go up and bring back, I feel like it is slim," Engel said. "It's cool that it happened, and I was glad I was able to make the plays for my pitchers."
The Sox lost to the Indians 9-7, but Engel helped make the final outcome much closer with his glove and bat.
"He was a highlight reel today, on both sides of the ball," manager Rick Renteria said. "He just keeps playing. He's chipping away, he's trying to improve. Today was a good day for him."
In the bottom of the eighth, Engel homered off Cleveland reliever Adam Cimber. He added a 2-run triple in the ninth inning.
"Obviously, we didn't come out on top today, but when you can save runs and drive some in, you have a good chance of winning," Engel said. "We fought today and didn't come out on top, but we made it close."
Covey clocked again
You can write down Carlos Rodon's name in the White Sox's starting rotation of the future.
Considering the 25-year-old lefty is healthy, effective and throwing hard less than a year after arthroscopic shoulder surgery, you can put down Rodon's name in ink.
When he does arrive - and it's looking more and more like April 2019 to delay his major-league service clock - Michael Kopech profiles as a top-end starter.
After that, it looks like Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease, with a large group that includes Lucas Giolito, Dane Dunning, Alec Hansen and Spencer Adams in a battle for the final spot.
"Those are going to be really good, tough decisions for us to make," manager Rick Renteria said. "I think it's a great problem for us to have as we're moving forward, and I think we'll always look for solutions for us to try to make it work.
"I'm not really too concerned with how it ends up playing out, just that we have the possibility of a lot of good stuff happening as we move forward."
Barring an abrupt turnaround, Dylan Covey is going to have to earn a bullpen job, assuming he still is in a Sox uniform.
Covey made his 17th start of the season in Sunday's loss. The right-hander barely made it out of the first inning.
With two outs, Yonder Alonso gave Cleveland the lead with an RBI single and Melky Cabrera followed with a 3-run homer.
Covey lasted just 2⅔ innings and allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.
"I need to be down in the zone," he said. "If I'm down in the zone like I was in that third inning, I just made that adjustment too late. But if I'm down in the zone the whole game, I throw a sinker and it's hard to get under it.
"If I pound down in the zone they pound it into the ground."
Over his last 10 starts, the right-hander is 1-8 with an 8.94 ERA. Renteria said Covey is staying in the White Sox's rotation.
"If we need to make an adjustment we will, I'm sure," Renteria said. "But we need him to continue to gain more experience in that starter's role. As much as we can, continue to give him a chance, try to develop his skill set."