Holland delivers quality start in White Sox's 5-1 loss to Jays
Finding positives in Chicago White Sox games is going to be challenging down the stretch.
In Wednesday afternoon's 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Guaranteed Rate Field, starting pitcher Derek Holland qualified as the bright spot.
"This is definitely a good start to build off," the veteran left-hander said.
In his first quality start since June 25, Holland (5-11) pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks.
"The main thing is you just keep plugging away," Holland said. "Probably I would say the only disappointing thing is four walks. That kills you from going later into the game. But I thought everything else was working perfect."
With Avisail Garcia (thumb), Matt Davidson (wrist) and Yoan Moncada (knee contusion) out of the lineup due to injury, scoring runs figured to be a big challenge, and it was.
Leury Garcia accounted for the White Sox's lone run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
The Sox (41-64) have lost 19 of 23.
"I'm not thinking about 19 games," manager Rick Renteria said. "I'm just thinking about today. I'm not even thinking about the last 23. I'm just thinking about today and what went right and what went wrong. In terms of how they combat it, I hope they do it as we've talked about, like a closer does. You don't come out on top, you've got to put it to bed.
"Look in the mirror, see what you did well, what went wrong, kind of learn from it and get ready to play tomorrow. I can't live in the past and neither can the players. It is what it is. We're going to continue to grind and keep playing."
Injury report:
Yoan Moncada missed his second straight game Wednesday with a bruised lower right thigh muscle.
The White Sox's top prospect was injured Monday night after colliding with right fielder Willy Garcia.
Moncada could be back in the lineup Thursday against his old team, the Red Sox.
Matt Davidson also sat out Wednesday with a sore right wrist. The third baseman was hit by a Marcus Stroman pitch Tuesday night.
Like Moncada, Davidson could return Thursday.
"Both of them are OK," manager Rick Renteria said.
Take a bow:
High Class A Winston-Salem outfielder Eloy Jimenez and AAA Charlotte infielder Jake Peter were voted White Sox minor league co-players of the month for July.
Charlotte starter Reynaldo Lopez was voted pitcher of the month.
Acquired from the Cubs in the Jose Quintana trade, the 20-year-old Jimenez batted .356 with 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 14 RBI and a .415 on-base percentage and .678 slugging percentage over 17 games.
Peter, 24, batted .364 with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and 13 RBI in 27 games with Charlotte and AA Birmingham.
Lopez, 23, went 0-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 5 starts. The right-hander had 38 strikeouts in 30 innings.