White Sox solid heading into all-star break
If you want to grade the White Sox for one game during the first half of the season, go ahead and give them an F- for Sunday.
Running rookie starter Dylan Axelrod back out to the mound just three days after he threw 107 pitches against the Texas Rangers was not a good idea, and it looked even worse after the right-hander served up a trio of 2-run homers in 3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Had a bad day,” Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said after Axelrod and the Sox lost to the Jays 11-9 at U.S. Cellular Field in the final game before the all-star break.
“Had a bad day,” Cooper repeated. “It didn’t work out the way we wanted or had it planned. It started with Axe and we weren’t that efficient today. We had a poor day. It was one of those slugfests that didn’t work out in our favor.”
In case you missed it, Axelrod was starting so Chris Sale could get added rest, even though he’ll pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Early last week, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said the break for Sale was decided on in May.
Sale can’t be completely shut down, so pitching 1 inning in the All-Star Game is going to serve as his scheduled side day.
Give the Sox a failing grade for using Axelrod on Sunday.
But they deserve an A+ for pulling into the all-star break at 47-38, good for a 3-game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.
For as bad as Axelrod was Sunday — not to mention home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn — the White Sox still came close to pulling out their sixth straight win.
They rallied from an 8-3 deficit to make it 8-7 in the fifth inning and made another push after Toronto pulled back ahead 11-7.
Manager Robin Ventura had to race to catch a flight back home to California after the game, so he wasn’t available for comment.
Fed up with Reyburn’s inconsistent strike zone during the game, Ventura got to pack a little earlier than expected when he came out in the ninth inning to argue with the umpire and was ejected.
Alex Rios, who finished an impressive first half by going 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, a 3-run homer and 4 RBI, was happy to talk about the game.
“We didn’t win the game, but we battled,” Rios said. “That’s what got us to where we are at right now. Those battles. Even though we lost that game, we battled through and that’s what matters.”
Thanks to players like Rios, who is batting .471 over his last 14 games, the Sox are in a good position to make a playoff push after the all-star break.
“It was pretty good,” Rios said of the White Sox’ first half. “I don’t think many people expected us to be where we are at right now. But we put it together and like I said, we’ve done a lot of good things in the first half.”
The pitching has to hold up after the break, which is why a rested Sale is so important.
After Sunday’s game, the Sox optioned pitcher Deunte Heath to Class AAA Charlotte. The right-hander was brought up on July 4 and didn’t appear in a game.
The White Sox will make a corresponding move before Friday’s game at Kansas City. If they activate Philip Humber off the disabled list, they can put the right-hander back in the rotation and move Axelrod to the bullpen.
sgregor@dailyherald.com