Roughed up in last two outings, Sox's Kelly lands on injured list with elbow inflmmation
Following the numbers, something wasn't adding up for Joe Kelly.
From June 14-29, the White Sox's reliever made 6 appearances and pitched 6 scoreless innings.
The streak ended at Oakland Saturday, when Kelly entered the game in the eighth inning with the Sox holding a 6-4 lead. The 35-year-old righty gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk and the Athletics went on to win 7-6 in 10.
Taking the mound against the Blue Jays Tuesday night, Kelly again came on in the eighth with the White Sox up 3-2. He walked leadoff man Brandon Belt and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a 2-run homer that decided the outcome.
Before Thursday's doubleheader against Toronto at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox placed Kelly on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.
That doesn't sound good, but manager Pedro Grifol isn't overly concerned.
"After (Tuesday's) game, he wasn't feeling that good," Grifol said. "He'll go on the IL and we'll have him back for the Mets series (July 18-20). He's going to rest up, regroup. There's nothing really that's alarming. He's just going to take a break."
Moncada update:
Baseball goes dark for the all-star break at the beginning of next week, and that includes the minor leagues.
When play does resume later in the week, injured third baseman Yoan Moncada is expected to go on a rehab assignment.
Moncada has been sidelined since June 15 with lower back soreness.
"If it wasn't for the break and everybody having the break at the same time, he'd be going out sooner than later," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He's doing really well. So we'll give it a few more days and then crank it back up."
The White Sox open the second half of the season with nine straight games on the road and they're hoping Moncada comes off the injured list at some point during the trip.
"You're looking at maybe a couple weeks away," Grifol said. "We'll see how everything keeps progressing."
Head in the game:
Oscar Colas was back in the starting lineup for Game 1 Thursday, but he made a gaffe Tuesday night after rejoining the White Sox from Class AAA Charlotte.
On first base with two outs in the fifth, Colas didn't run full speed on Zach Remillard's inning-ending flyout. He forgot how many outs there were.
Manager Pedro Grifol said Colas' lack of focus in his first stint with the Sox was an issue, so he was surprised it happened again.
"It actually does, because we've addressed those things," Grifol said. "We addressed it (Tuesday), a few times. I'm not going to see that ever happen again, even though it might."