Covey improves, but White Sox fall to Royals

As he showed again Friday night, White Sox manager Rick Renteria won't hesitate to pull a player from the game when he detects a lack of effort.

Yoan Moncada, Welington Castillo, Leury Garcia and Tim Anderson were benched earlier this season, and it was Avisail Garcia's turn Friday. Garcia was also taken out of a March spring training game for failing to run hard to first base.

"I think anytime you remove a player from a game, it's twofold," Renteria said. "It's to the player and it's to the whole team. The whole team has to know what you're doing, why you're doing it."

The effort level was good Saturday, but the Sox lost to the Royals 3-1 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Starter Dylan Covey was 0-3 with a 9.45 ERA in 3 August starts before taking the mound, and the right-hander looked much better while allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 5⅔ innings.

"This week leading up to the start, my main focus was being down in the zone," Covey said. "I was able to do that today pretty well. Kind of dug myself into a hole a little bit with those two-out walks, got my pitch count up."

Benching players for failing to hustle is more common in lower levels of baseball, but Renteria believes it's important for the White Sox to always give all-out effort.

"We've tried to stay consistent with that whole process," Renteria said. "Ultimately, we as White Sox are going to give an effort that everybody can be proud of. I think our players know that as well. I think they understand it. Yesterday (Garcia) told me sorry, I could have done a better job."

Konerko joins Hawk:

Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who is in his 33rd and final season in the White Sox TV booth, will be joined by Paul Konerko for Sunday's game against the Royals.

Stopping in at Guaranteed Rate Field in late July, Konerko was looking forward to calling the game with Harrelson.

"It's kind of an end of an era, a big, long era," Konerko said. "I don't think guys are going to get to do it as long as he's done it, and I don't think guys will be allowed to be like he is anymore, right? So it's definitely special."

Sign her up:

Marian Catholic High School's Sister Mary Jo Sobieck threw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday, and it was a beauty.

After bouncing the baseball off her right biceps, Sister Mary Jo threw a nasty curveball to Lucas Giolito, the designated catcher.

Before she took the mound, White Sox manager Rick Renteria took notice.

"She was talking to someone and she wanted to warm up," Renteria said. "She had a mitt and a ball. She gave him the mitt. She stepped back at about 45 feet and threw a bullet. I'm like, 'Wait a minute.' He threw it back to her and she fielded it barehanded.

"I was like, 'OK, she looks like she can play a little bit,' so we started talking to her. I think she said she played center and short. I said, 'Can you play for us?' She said, 'Sure.' Seems to be a really nice lady."