White Sox can't sweep things up in Anaheim
Josh Fields, the White Sox' struggling third baseman, wasn't in the starting lineup in Wednesday night's 3-1 loss to the Angels.
Gordon Beckham, the Sox' top minor-league prospect and a natural shortstop, played third for Class AA Birmingham on Wednesday and reportedly has been promoted to Class AAA Charlotte.
Let's go back to White Sox GM Kenny Williams' statement at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday: "I'm thinking I want to see some production out of some people or I'm going to start making some changes."
Williams might have been referring to shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who was struggling at the time before he started hitting out of the No. 2 spot.
The Sox' GM might have been referring to rookie second baseman Chris Getz, who was batting .346 on May 1 but has dropped to .246.
Most likely, Williams was sending a direct message to Fields.
A 6-for-16 surge has raised Fields' average from .212 to .229, but the 26-year-old third baseman has struggled for much of the season and has obviously opened the door for an earlier-than-expected arrival by Beckham.
Even though Fields was on the bench against the Angels on Wednesday, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters it was just a routine day off.
"We just wanted to give Josh two days off," Guillen said. The Sox are off today and open a three-game series at Kansas City Friday.
As for Beckham, he hit .299 at Birmingham.
"This kid is a good ballplayer,'' Guillen said. "We knew he could play Triple-A since spring training, but we didn't want to rush him. A lot of people say the difference between Triple-A and the big leagues is a small step, but I don't know about that one. It's the biggest step you are going to make."
The Sox were hoping to sweep the Angels, and they took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on Paul Konerko's sacrifice fly.
L.A. finally got to White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits in the sixth inning. Bobby Abreu's 2-run double was the big blow.
The White Sox still managed to win their third straight series and are 6-3 over that stretch.
"We couldn't play worse than we were playing before," Guillen said. "We've put it together. Every time we come to play, hopefully we win the series. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a good summer."
Scot Gregor's game tracker
Wednesday's grade: B. The White Sox had another rough night against Angels starter Jered Weaver, but they had a shot at pulling off the three-game sweep.
Web gem: The Sox have been playing standout defense lately, and 1B Paul Konerko continued the trend in the fourth inning. Konerko robbed Kendry Morales of a 2-run double with a diving stop in the fourth inning.
Good sign: Gavin Floyd turned in his second straight strong start, allowing 3 runs on 7 his in 8 innings. Over his last two starts, Floyd's given up 3 runs in 16 innings.