Sosa is a hope for future, but Harrison heating up as Sox beat Angels 11-4
The numbers say Lenyn Sosa didn't do so well in his brief stay with the White Sox.
Joining the Sox last Thursday from Class AA Birmingham after infielder Danny Mendick went down for the season with a knee injury, Sosa played in four games with the Sox and had 1 hit in 12 at-bats.
Before Tuesday night's game against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., third baseman Yoan Moncada (hamstring) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and Sosa was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte.
The rising prospect still has a bright future, but the White Sox are apparently content letting Josh Harrison and Leury Garcia split time at second base, at least until the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
Sosa's first major league hit was a double against the Orioles Sunday at Guaranteed Rare Field. The 22-year-old Venezuelan was 0-for-3 in Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Angels, but he did make a slick defensive play to start a double play in the third inning.
"(Sosa) started rolling balls over toward the end," manager Tony La Russa told reporters at Angel Stadium. "He was hunting hits. Get back on his stroke, he will. I think that double play yesterday, that spin, that accurate throw, I've seen guys more experienced have trouble with that play."
Sosa's a hope for the future, and Harrison is trying to show he's the right guy for the present.
After a dreadful, injury-prone first two months of the season, the 34-year-old veteran stumbled into June with a .172/.255/.263 hitting line with no home runs and 3 RBI.
Harrison has heated up this month, and entered Tuesday night's game against Los Angeles hitting .333/.386/.451 with 1 home run and 7 RBI in June.
The right-hander's surge continued against the Angels, and Harrison's big night sparked the White Sox to an 11-4 win over Los Angeles.
Harrison's 2-run homer in the fifth inning tied the game at 3 and Luis Robert followed with another 2-run shot to center (448 feet) that put the Sox in front for good.
Harrison added a run-scoring single in the seventh and Robert, Jose Abreu and Seby Zavala drove in 2 runs each.
In his first game with the White Sox since June 17, Moncada was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI.
The Sox exploded for 11 runs after scoring a total of 10 in their last five games.
White Sox starter Johnny Cueto gave up 3 solo home runs in the third inning, to Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Andrew Velazquez.
Ohtani will be on the mound for Los Angeles Wednesday night, starting against Sox right-hander Michael Kopech.
Cueto pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk.