Palka powers White Sox to 6-4 win over Royals
Palka power.
Daniel Palka has it, and he flashed it at the right time for the Chicago White Sox Thursday.
With the game tied at 3 and two on and one out in the eighth inning, Palka came to the plate as a pinch-hitter. The muscular 6-foot-2, 220-pounder had one thing on his mind.
"I wanted to hit a homer," Palka said. "That was it. I wanted to get a ball I could hit out of the park. He gave me one."
Relief pitcher Jason Hammel left a pitch up and Palka crushed it, launching a 3-run homer into the right-field seats. The 420-foot drive lifted the Sox to a 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals.
Palka is now tied for the franchise lead with 3 pinch-hit home runs. Oscar Gamble also had the had trick, in 1977.
"He's shown the ability to do that," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He gets in there, he's certainly not scared of the moment. I think he's just looking for a pitch out over the plate that he can handle and drive. He's confident in his swing and he's got natural strength."
It was a bright afternoon for Palka, and the same goes for Sox starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez.
Blaming a lack of focus for an 0-4 record and 8.72 ERA over his last 4 starts, the 24-year-old righty was locked in against the Royals.
"Right from the beginning, straight out of the bullpen," Renteria said. "You could see right out of the shoot he was hitting 96, 97 (mph), working 93, 94 change-ups, attacking the strike zone. Everything you wanted to see out of him today, he gave us."
Lopez pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks to go with 4 strikeouts.
"I felt good," Lopez said through a translator. "I felt in command of all my pitches. I was focused today. At the end, it was a crazy end. Palka had the big hit for us today. It was a very emotional game, a very intense game."
Cease honored:
Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease were two of the Cubs' top prospects last season before being traded to the White Sox for Jose Quintana.
In July, Jimenez was voted the Sox's minor league player of the month and Cease was named the top pitcher.
The 22-year-old righty was 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA in 5 July starts with Class AA Birmingham.
"I think I'm just executing pitches better, to be honest," said Cease, a 6-fott-2, 190-pounder. "I've changed my curveball to more of a spiked curve and it seems to have improved my curveball."
For the season, Cease is a combined 11-2 with a 2.71 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 106⅔ innings with Birmingham and high A Winston-Salem.
There is little doubt he is tracking toward the White Sox's rotation.
"I feel if I was up there right now, I could compete," Cease said. "I could definitely compete but I'm not that worried about it right now. I'm trying to see what I can do right now to be the best player I can be."
Moving day:
The Sox's trop two draft picks were promoted Thursday.
First-rounder Nick Madrigal heads to Winston-Salem after batting .341/.347/.409 in 12 games at low A Kannapolis.
The No. 4 overall pick in the June draft out of Oregon State, Madrigal did not strike out in 49 plate appearances.
Outfielder Steele Walker, the White Sox's second-round pick out of Oklahoma, was bumped to Kannapolis after slashing .206/.263/.412 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in 9 games with Advanced Rookie Great Falls.
Starting pitcher Alec Hansen, who led all minor league pitchers with 191 strikeouts last season while going a combined 11-8, 2.80 ERA with Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham, was demoted from Birmingham to Winston-Salem Thursday.
Hansen was 0-4 with a 6.56 ERA in 9 starts at Double-A after missing over two months with right forearm pain.