Blue Jays tee off on Nova, White Sox
It's been a season of extremes for White Sox starting pitcher Ivan Nova.
The right-hander was extremely ineffective in four of his first six starts, leaving him with the highest ERA (8.33) in the major leagues on May 1.
Nova was extremely good in his last two starts, allowing just 2 runs over 13 innings while shaving the ERA to 6.29.
"If he gets into a little trouble, he's able to get himself out of jams," Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He's very calm on the mound in key situations, but he's been around a while."
Nova was back on the bad side in Friday night's start against the Blue Jays, and the White Sox followed suit in a 10-2 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The 32-year-old righty lasted just 3-plus innings against a Toronto team that came in with the lowest batting average in baseball at .216. Nova gave up 9 runs (8 earned) on 8 hits and 4 walks, pushing his ERA back up to 7.42.
"Everything," Nova said when asked what was wrong. "I didn't have command of my pitches. I was walking people, falling behind. It's kind of hard to take a game like this, but keep fighting."
Of the 8 hits he allowed, Nova gave up 3 home runs. In the fourth inning, prized Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. circled the bases on a drive to center field. Leury Garcia appeared to have made the catch but he couldn't squeeze it and the ball dropped over the fence.
For the season, Nova has allowed 10 homers in 47⅓ innings.
"You have games where you give up a lot of home runs," Nova said. "Trying to keep the ball in the park has been really tough so far, but we'll continue to work on it."
Bullpen boost:
After struggling early in the season, the White Sox's bullpen has settled down.
Led by veteran newcomers Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera, Sox relievers have a 2.03 ERA over their last 11 games.
Juan Minaya, Josh Osich, Aaron Bummer and Ryan Burr allowed only 1 run over 6 innings in relief of Ivan Nova Friday night.
Colome is 9-for-9 in save opportunities.
"With the addition of Kelvin and Alex, the bullpen has solidified," manager Rick Renteria said. "They are guys with experience. We have some of the guys we had last year, Bummer and (Jace) Fry and the addition of Evan Marshall, guys that are now showing they're capable of actually minimizing or holding the opponents down and giving us opportunities to try to close out ballgames."
Getting closer:
Eloy Jimenez played his fourth game with Class AAA Charlotte Friday night and was 2-for-5 with a home run.
On a rehab assignment to test his sprained right ankle, Jimenez is 6-for-16 for Charlotte. The rookie left fielder should come off the injured list and be back with the White Sox by Monday at the latest.
The Knights beat Lehigh Valley 10-3 Friday. Dylan Cease started and got the win after allowing 3 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings to go with 8 strikeouts.