Jimenez, Lopez injured in White Sox's 14-2 loss to Twins
There were losses everywhere you looked at Guaranteed Rate Field Sunday afternoon.
On the scoreboard, the White Sox were pounded by the Twins 14-2, leaving them with a 1-2 record to open the short season.
On the field, the Sox lost two players to injury – power-hitting left fielder Eloy Jimenez and starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez.
Jimenez slammed into the fence trying to catch Jake Cave's grand slam off Lopez with two outs in the first inning.
After laying on the warning track for an extended period, Jimenez got to his feet and was given a concussion test. He stayed in the game.
Lopez departed when Luis Arraez followed Cave with a single. He was diagnosed with right shoulder tightness and will be reevaluated Monday.
“It was bothering me since the beginning of the game,” Lopez said through a translator. “The pain was increasing with every pitch. It was more difficult every pitch. The pain didn't let me fully concentrate in the game or every pitch.
“It's very difficult to pitch when you're feeling something like that. I tried to battle through it.”
It was a losing battle, and Lopez is likely to be replaced in the White Sox's rotation by Gio Gonzalez if he is unable to make his next atart.
“I'm always positive,” Lopez said. “I'm always thinking in a positive way. With God's blessing, everything is going to be OK.”
Jimenez came out of the game in the second inning as Minnesota was lighting up Gonzalez, who made his Sox debut in relief of Lopez.
Unable to run at full speed tracking down an Eddie Rosario RBI double, Jimenez was diagnosed with light-headedness. He'll also be reevaluated Monday.
"He got dizzy out there,” Renteria said. “He was feeling, already, better. It's been hot for the last couple of days. Hopefully it's more to do with staying hydrated and things of that nature. But we'll reevaluate both those guys tomorrow.
“I would venture to say that I'm sure that it's going to be, hopefully, positive, in terms of how they recover from either one of the two items that they're dealing with. But we'll know more tomorrow. There's nothing more I can speak to on that."
Center fielder Luis Robert was on the move when Jimenez jumped at the left-field fence trying to catch Cave's grand slam.
"I actually didn't see him crash into the wall because I was just tracking the ball,” Robert said through a translator. “It wasn't until I got to where he was that I asked him how he was feeling and he said he wasn't feeling good.”
It was a bad game all the way around for the White Sox, but Robert did provide one highlight.
After Adsm Engel (3-for-4) led off the fifth inning with a double, Robert followed with his first major-league home run.
"As soon as I hit the ball, I knew that I had made solid contact,” Robert said of the 419-foot drive to center field. “I definitely feel good just to have the first one out of the way. It's a relief. I feel good and I know there's going to be more to come."