White Sox beat Cleveland, get strong outing from Lopez

Reynaldo Lopez vs. Lucas Giolito is a natural competition, and the White Sox are paying close attention to the results.

Lopez and Giolito were both acquired in the Dec. 7, 2016 trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Nationals.

They are both in their second full seasons in the Sox's starting rotation.

They are both potential keys to a promising future.

Lopez had the upper hand on Giolito in 2018, but that has changed a bit this year.

Giolito has won his last two starts, allowing 1 earned run and striking out 16 in 14⅓ innings.

Lopez entered Monday night's outing against the Indians with the second-highest ERA (6.38) in the major leagues, but the 25-year-old righty showed how good he can be during an April 28 start against the Tigers, when he allowed 1 unearned run and struck out 14 over 6 innings.

Lopez was even more pleased with his performance in the Sox's 5-2 win over the Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"I've had good outings, but today was probably the best of the season," Lopez said. "I felt good today. I had a better arm angle and I was using my legs much better."

While lowering his ERA to 5.58, Lopez allowed 1 unearned run in 7⅔ innings and he was still throwing 98 mph before coming out of the game.

"He's pretty good," manager Rick Renteria said. "He's got good stuff and when he's commanding it, he can dominate a ballgame. Today, he did."

The White Sox backed Lopez with 4 solo home runs, and switch-hitter Yoan Moncada (3-for-4) went deep from both sides of the plate while emerging from a 10-for-50 slump in May.

"I've been learning a lot," Moncada said through a translator. "I know that especially at this level, you need to make adjustments very quick because every day counts and even though it's a long season, you don't want to waste any time. That's why you have to keep learning. I've been learning."

Adolfo down again:

Less than a year ago, Micker Adolfo had Tommy John surgery after injuring his right elbow in spring training.

The promising outfield prospect is going to have another elbow procedure Tuesday. Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery in Florida and Adolfo is going to miss the rest of the season.

"We are expecting it to be a debridement, or a removal of scar tissue, as well as potentially some work done on the nerve, a nerve transposition in the forearm," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "This is an unfortunate side effect sometimes of Tommy John in terms of the scar tissue buildup as well as issues that develop with the nerve. Both of these are highly fixable so we remain very optimistic on his full recovery and returning to us without restriction."

Hahn said Adolfo is expected to be 100 percent and ready to go when spring training opens next year.

Too much Tommy:

Carlos Rodon joins Michael Kopech, Dane Dunning and Zack Burdi as White Sox pitchers and prospects who have gone down with Tommy John surgery the past two years.

"There's a portion of it that's bad luck," Sox GM Rick Hahn said. "It's not just us, obviously. You look around the league and unfortunately it's fairly rampant. I'm not going to be able to specifically cite the source, but I remember someone during our last homestand in the box raised during the game that something like 32 or 33 percent of active pitchers in the big leagues have had Tommy John at some point, which is stunning in this day and age.

"But it's the era we live in where guys are throwing harder, they're throwing more younger and we're still unfortunately learning about what it takes to keep an elbow healthy given the amount of force that throwing a baseball at that level and frequency does."