Rodon effectively wild in first start of season
Considering he last pitched for the Chicago White Sox in September 2016, Carlos Rodon figured to be rusty in his season debut Wednesday night.
"He started a little rough early," manager Rick Renteria said.
Taking the mound against the New York Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field, Rodon labored through the first inning while throwing 37 pitches, only 15 of them strikes.
Rodon was at 72 pitches through 3 innings, and the always patient Yankees swung at only 19 offerings from the Sox's 24-year-old lefty during that stretch.
When he exited the game after 5 innings, Rodon's pitch count stood at 94, and only 41 were strikes.
Add in 6 walks and you're looking at a dangerous pitching line, but Rodon actually was better than the numbers would indicate in a marathon 12-3 loss to New York.
After coming off the disabled list (left-biceps bursitis) before the game, Rodon allowed only 3 unearned runs on 2 hits to go with 2 strikeouts.
"I felt a little rough in the first and second, and the walks didn't help," Rodon said. "But I was pretty excited. It was good to be out there. Next time hopefully it's a little better."
New York took advantage of shortstop Tim Anderson's 18th error of the season to score the 3 unearned runs in the first inning, took advantage of 10 walks issued by Sox pitching and rolled to victory in a game that ran three hours, 51 minutes.
Renteria run again:
For the fifth time this season, and fourth in the White Sox's last seven home games, manager Rick Renteria was ejected Wednesday. In the sixth inning, he was tossed after complaining to home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt about his strike zone.
"I just think they thought I said something that was worthy of being ejected," Renteria said. "I don't think I did."
Jake Petricka, who was on in relief for the Sox, also was tossed, his first career ejection.
Day (2) of rest:
On Tuesday, manager Rick Renteria scrapped batting practice and told his players to come in an hour later than normal.
The move seemed to work, as the White Sox rallied to beat New York.
The Sox did the same thing Wednesday.
"Again, we have been traveling a lot, Renteria said. "They've been a little tired. I know we've talked about it, maybe that's not an excuse. The reality is the body's fatigued, you're getting up early, you're packing every three days. I just thought (Tuesday) would be an appropriate time to give them a little breath.
"After the victory last night, going in they were talking a little bit about maybe doing it again today. Honestly, they're the ones that are playing the game. It's not something I'll probably do every single day; that would be impossible. We still have to get our work in. But I thought it kind of fit the moment, and we allowed them to do it again today."