Farquhar's return sparks White Sox's 8-3 win over Brewers
The first day of June is a little early - make that way too early - to be playing spoiler, but that's the cold hand the Chicago White Sox are dealing with.
Buried in the AL Central basement, the Sox played the first of three interleague games against the Brewers Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Getting a pregame boost from the return of fallen relief pitcher Danny Farquhar, the White Sox erased an early deficit and knocked off first-place Milwaukee 8-3.
After their last game, a 9-1 loss at Cleveland Wednesday that dropped their record to 16-37, Sox players huddled for a team meeting at Progressive Field.
"We talked about coming out and being ready to play and just be ready to go out there and play ball," starting pitcher Hector Santiago said. "That's what we've talked about since spring training, just competing. Go hard all 27 outs, all nine innings, give everything you have every pitch, every time you hit a ball, every time you run down the base.
"Tonight, I didn't have a great start but offensively we did a good job. Pitching-wise, coming out of the pen we did a really good job. I don't think anybody gave up a hit."
Erasing the Brewers' early 3-0 lead, every starter had at least 1 hit as the White Sox snapped a four-game losing streak.
"We played a pretty good ballgame on both sides," said shortstop Tim Anderson, who put the Sox ahead 5-3 with a 2-run triple in the sixth inning. "It was definitely a good game."
It wasn't a good start for Santiago, who was pulled with one out in the fourth inning after allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks. But Chris Volstad, Luis Avilan, Joakim Soria, Bruce Rondon and Nate Jones held the Brewers hitless and scoreless the rest of the way.
Farquhar's appearance on the mound for the ceremonial first pitch made the win even more special for the White Sox.
"It was awesome," Santiago said. "A month and a half ago, we were thinking he could lose his life. You feel for him. He was out there with his family enjoying the moment and we tried to enjoy it with him. It was a good win for the team and that we did it after he was out there on the mound with us."
May flowers:
Class AA Birmingham outfielder Eloy Jimenez and low A Kannapolis right-hander Blake Battenfield were voted the White Sox's minor league player and pitcher of the month for May.
Jimenez, 21, batted .374 with 11 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs and 25 RBI in 26 games with the Barons.
At Jackson last Saturday, Jimenez hit a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning.
Battenfield, 23, the Sox's 17th-round pick in last year's draft out of Oklahoma State, was 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in 5 May starts with Kannapolis.