Fry, Chicago White Sox falter in loss to Toronto
After the Chicago White Sox traded veteran relief pitcher Joakim Soria to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, they created an opening in the closer's role.
Jace Fry is hoping he gets another shot at the stressful job after failing Sunday to slam the door in the Sox's 7-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Following another quality start from Carlos Rodon, Fry came on in the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead.
The left-hander gave up the tying home run to Jays leadoff hitter Teoscar Hernandez, hit Kendrys Morales with a pitch and was gone after giving up a double to Aledmys Diaz.
Toronto wound up scoring 5 runs in the ninth to break the game open.
"I felt good going out there, and a lot of times they swing through those pitches they hit today," Fry said. "But they hit them and they counted. I'm going to learn from it and hopefully (manager Rick Renteria) keeps throwing me out there and keeps giving me opportunities because it's what we all want to do."
Rodon pitched 7⅔ innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits.
"Just working quick," Rodon said. "Once again, (catcher) Omar (Narvaez) and I were on the same page. The defense made some good plays and we got to pitch into the eighth today."
Work in progress:
Lucas Giolito's uneven first full season in the major leagues continued in Saturday night's start against the Blue Jays.
The right-hander allowed 5 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in 4⅓ innings, hiking his ERA to 6.26.
Giolito has the highest ERA among qualified major-league starters, and he ranks second with 65 walks. The Cubs' Tyler Chatwood is first with 85.
Those are statistics that can shatter a young pitcher's confidence, but the 24-year-old Giolito is dealing with the adversity as well as can be expected.
"It's no longer an issue of, 'Am I going to feel right?' or 'Am I going to throw strikes?' " Giolito said. "I have confidence in all my pitches and throwing the ball over the plate. It's just a few things here and there I need to clean up, especially pitch smarter.
"I'm getting a little too much of the plate, especially with two strikes. I'm just enjoying the experience and learning as much as I can."
Sox manager Rick Renteria said all of the difficult lessons are going to eventually pay off for Giolito.
"Lucas is attacking the strike zone now; he's finding command of his breaking ball earlier in the game," Renteria said. "For most of our guys, it's just trying to get them through the first inning of work effectively.
"(Saturday), I think (Giolito) was at 25, 26 pitches through the first inning. It's just efficiency. It's execution and trusting, continue to trust your defense is going to do what it needs to do behind you. I think he does that. I think he's continued to get better.
"He's young, he's still developing. I think his mindset is solid. I think his approach is solid. He's definitely determined to have success. So all the intangibles you're looking for in these guys in order for them to have a chance, they're there for him. Just continue to play."
Minor move:
The White Sox acquired left-handed relief pitcher Caleb Frare from the New York Yankees on Sunday in exchange for international signing bonus pool money.
Frare, 25, is 4-1 with a 0.81 ERA, 5 saves and 58 strikeouts in 44⅔ innings this season. He pitched in 31 games for Class AA Trenton and 1 game with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
New York's 11th-round draft pick in 2012, Frare is headed to Class AAA Charlotte.