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Rodon makes early exit with sore shoulder; Mazara rejoins White Sox

This is going to be remembered as the season when major-league teams tried to stay healthy first and win games second.

The White Sox have fared relatively well on the coronavirus front thus far, not that manager Rick Renteria is shoving safety tips down their throats.

"We've been talking about all those things since the beginning," Renteria said. "We continue to talk about it every day in terms of making sure guys are trying to keep their distance. But there's only so much we can do.

"I don't want to really focus on it too much because then I'm giving them some other distraction, and there's enough that surrounds us on a daily basis."

Carlos Rodon is the latest distraction in the non-COVID 19 department.

Starting against the Brewers on Monday night at Miller Park, Rodon had zero zip on his fastball, and he exited the game after allowing 1 run on 2 hits over 2 innings while throwing 26 pitches.

According to the Sox, Rodon has left-shoulder soreness and will be reevaluated Tuesday.

The White Sox rallied to beat Milwaukee 6-4, their fifth straight win.

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Jose Abreu pulled the Sox even with a 2-run homer. Leury Garcia scored from third base on a wild pitch in the eighth to put the White Sox in front.

"It's always good to be around the team we have right now," Abreu said through a translator. "We have a lot of young guys, a lot of energy and a lot of passion. I was thinking just make good contact (on the homer), and I was able to do that."

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Rodon has dealt with one health issue after another. The 27-year-old pitcher had Tommy John surgery last season and shoulder surgery in 2018.

Nomar Mazara was another distraction when he landed on the injured list July 21 for undisclosed reasons.

The new right fielder rejoined the White Sox in Milwaukee on Monday. Coming on to pinch hit in the sixth inning, Mazara flied out to left field. He singled in the eighth.

Before the game, Mazara talked about the symptoms that landed him on the IL.

"I had a strep throat," he said. "I get it once per year, but I haven't had it in like two years. They still made me follow the protocol, the MLB protocol, to make sure everybody was safe. I was only sick for two days and that was it."

To clear a roster spot for Mazara, the Sox optioned catcher Yermin Mercedes to Schaumburg. In his first major-league at-bat Sunday, Mercedes pinch hit for Edwin Encarnacion in the eighth inning and grounded out to second base.

  Nomar Mazara during the Chicago White Sox practice at the Schaumburg Boomers Stadium Thursday in Schaumburg. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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