Strong effort from Volstad, but White Sox offense fails to show

Matt Davidson's at-bat in the sixth inning Tuesday summed up the Chicago White Sox's day.

Not good.

Trying to tie the Seattle Mariners at 1 or take the lead in the sixth, Davidson came to the plate with runners on first and third and two outs.

He took a called third strike from Mariners starter Marco Gonzales even though the pitch was clearly outside.

Before returning to the dugout, Davidson voiced his displeasure to home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook.

"He had a big zone all day," Davidson said. "It's something that you don't love it, but it's also our part to adjust to it as well. He's going to be calling it all day. He seemed like he was doing it for the most part for both sides.

"But in a big situation, in a 1-0 game, first and third, a ball is clearly off, it's just frustrating, especially being a guy trying to work on my plate discipline. I kind of let it go. It's part of the game. They are human as well. They are going to make bad decisions like we will make bad decisions."

Davidson did let it go, but manager Rick Renteria charged out of the White Sox's dugout, jawed at Estabrook and was ejected.

The Sox wound up losing to Seattle 1-0.

"(Davidson), he's not a guy that's very vocal," Renteria said. "He lets those guys do their job. I think when he's expressing himself, in a very calm fashion by the way, to the umpire, I just wanted to make sure I got out there in time that it didn't escalate and that was it."

Pitching in:

With Miguel Gonzalez on the disabled list, Chris Volstad came out of the bullpen and started Tuesday's game against Seattle.

"Just trying to get quick outs, attack the zone, make them hit it on the ground and the defense did a great job," Volstad said. "It was a good one, a solid one, and we'll move on from there."

Volstad pitched 4⅓ innings and allowed 1 run on 3 hits.

"I'm not sure what the plan is going forward," Volstad aaid. "I'm here to do whatever is needed and I think they know that so I'm just going out there whenever they tell me to and staying out there and doing what I can however long they let me stay out there."

Shadow game:

Wanting to try something different, the White Sox started Tuesday's game at 4:10 p.m.

Sox and Mariners pitchers liked it, but hitters from both sides had trouble picking up the ball in the late afternoon shadows.

"It was tough," Matt Davidson said. "Four o'clock is something that we kind of know, during batting practice for night games we have little shadows and they are kind of tough. So we knew coming in it was going to be tough to see a little bit and try to get a pitch early and do something with it."

Comeback trail:

In town over the weekend to get a final medical check on his surgically repaired left shoulder, White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon was anxious to get back on the mound.

"It's definitely frustrating," Rodon said. "No one likes to be injured, for the team and for the fans. You don't want to be in Arizona when your boys are out here."

Rodon made his first start in extended spring training Monday, throwing 34 pitches over 3 innings.

The plan is gradually moving Rodon up through the minor leagues and having him rejoin the Sox's rotation in late May or early June.