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White Sox lose Bummer, gain 2-0 win over Indians

A few days ago, general manager Rick Hahn was asked if the glut of the White Sox's early injuries were caused by the stop-and-start nature of the season that was caused by COVID-19.

"It's really hard to say exactly what the cause of any of these things are," Hahn said. "We've been very diligent in terms of monitoring the usage of these players and trying to control the ramp-up of their activity."

Only three weeks of summer training followed a layoff of over three months due to the coronavirus, and injuries are running rampant throughout the game.

The Sox are getting hurt worse than most.

Standout relief pitcher Aaron Bummer left Friday night's game against the Indians with two outs in the seventh inning. The White Sox said Bummer has left biceps soreness and will be re-evaluated Saturday.

"He just felt what he thought was a cramp in his biceps," Renteria said. "Obviously we took him out. Hopefully, it's no extended period of time, but we are going to be careful with him."

Despite the growing list of injuries, the Sox pulled it together and beat Cleveland 2-0.

Starter Dylan Cease pitched 5 innings and walked five while giving up 2 hits. The 24-year-old righty emerged from one jam after another, including the second inning when the Indians loaded the bases with no outs and didn't score.

"No matter what, he still got through what he needed to get through and kept us in the ballgame," Renteria said.

Luis Robert singled and scored in the first inning and Adam Engel homered in the eighth as the White Sox snapped a two-game losing streak.

"I can't expect those kinds of results if I'm going to have that many baserunners all the time," Cease said. "Fortunately, we were able to get out of here with a 'W,' but it's not something that's going to be sustainable. So I have to do a better job of getting ahead and not doing that."

In addition to Bummer, catcher Yasmani Grandal and right fielder Nomar Mazara were not in the starting lineup due to foot injuries.

Renteria said designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) should take live batting practice Saturday and shortstop Tim Anderson (groin) is expected back in the lineup early next week.

Sox on Sunday:

With the Cubs-Cardinals weekend series being postponed after more St. Louis players tested positive for COVID-19, the White Sox-Indians game has been moved to Sunday night and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

First pitch is set for 6:08 p.m., and it's a solid matchup between Sox ace Lucas Giolito (1-1, 5.71 ERA) and Cleveland's Shane Bieber (3-0), who has 35 strikeouts in 21⅔ innings.

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