Floyd 'awesome' in outing against Rockies 4-1

TUCSON, Ariz. - Gavin Floyd, the White Sox' No. 2 starter, pitched 2 innings, allowing a run and 3 hits Thursday as the White Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1 in front of 2,943 at Hi Corbett Field

"Floyd threw the ball really well," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It was awesome. He did an awesome job. There was one (fielding) mental mistake at short or he should have thrown a two-inning shutout."

Floyd, who was 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA last year, gave up a double to Jeff Baker in the second inning. Baker later scored on a groundout.

The White Sox have emphasized to Floyd that he doesn't have to throw early in spring training, but coaches were impressed.

"He is going to be better," Guillen said. "I really like what I saw."

The brunt of the Sox' offense came from Corky Miller, who went 3-for-3, while Josh Kroeger was 2-for-4.

Huston Street made his debut with the Rockies, giving up a run and 3 hits. Street is competing with Manuel Corpas for the closer role, a job he held in Oakland last season, but he is not worried how the outing is going to affect his chances.

"You can't worry too much about results this early, but I will never get comfortable giving up runs," Street said. "We are just trying to build, to get a little bit better. I was really happy with the outing, except the run. I hate giving up runs. It doesn't matter if it is Feb. 26 or Oct. 26th."

Street came to Colorado in the trade in November that sent outfielder Matt Holliday to the A's, and has 94 career saves, the fifth most in major- league history by the age of 25. He was 7-5 with 18 saves for the Athletics last season.

His 3 hits Thursday in one inning were all singles.

"I was locating my fastball good. I was only unhappy with one pitch, and it was a changeup that gave up a hit," Street said. "I will take the swings they gave me. Right now you are just trying to establish your fastball location, going in and out. You will start putting guys away at the end."

Corpas pitched a scoreless inning in the spring-training opener for the Rockies on Wednesday.

"I embrace it," Street said of the competition for the closing role. "I think it is going to be healthy for both of us. It is going to push us both to be better baseball players, which at the end will help the team."

Colorado starter Jason Hirsh, competing for the No. 5 starting spot, allowed 6 hits and 3 runs to the White Sox in 2 innings.

Colorado's Omar Quintanilla had 2 of the Rockies' 7 hits.