Engel excels in HR robbery
Adam Engel did it again. And he did a couple other things.
In the top of the eighth, Engel made his third home-run theft in a week, leaping to grab Yonder Alonso’s drive to deep right center. Then in the bottom of the inning, Engel’s homer off Adam Cimber was his first since June 3. Finally, in the ninth, Engel’s two-run triple off Cody Allen pulled the White Sox to within 9-7 to cap a 3-for-4 day.
“It’s pretty cool. Like I said, any way you can help the team win,” Engel said. “Obviously we didn’t come out on top, but when you can save runs and drive some in, you have a good chance of winning. We fought and didn’t came out on top, but we made it close.”
On Monday, Engel robbed the Yankees’ Greg Bird, then matched the feat the next night when he took away a homer from Kyle Higashioka.
“Just the chances of there being three balls in one week that you have the opportunity to go up and bring back I feel like is slim,” Engel said. “It’s cool that it happened and I was glad I was able to make the plays for my pitchers.”
And as you’d expect, Engel said it feels pretty good to pull back a homer.
“It’s a really cool feeling to come back with it and you know you saved at least one run,” Engel said.
Time to count?
With six weeks left in the season and a rotation filled with young pitchers, it might be time to start discussing innings limits. Or, if it isn’t, that time is getting pretty close.
Before Sunday’s game, manager Rick Renteria was asked about that topic and said the team hasn’t talked “in depth” about it, but could soon.
“I’m sure the next 10 days or so, two weeks, we might have some conversations with where we’re at with that,” Renteria said. “We’re just allowing things to unfold and see how they continue to progress.”
That question seems to be most relevant to Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. Giolito has thrown 125‰ innings and Lopez is at 136.
Still down
Even after homering Saturday, Yoan Moncada wasn’t back in his customary leadoff spot against right-handed pitchers. But Moncada did move up in the order, hitting sixth against Carlos Carrasco after slotting in eighth.
Renteria said one positive to moving Moncada down is that it lets him see what other guys experience in their at-bats before he gets to the plate.
“Because when you’re struggling a little bit, you’re leading off — of which he loves to do by the way — and you’re not having the success that you want leading off a ballgame can deflate you a little bit,” Renteria said. “This allows him to continue to work, get his at-bats, understand some of the things that [hitting coach Todd Steverson] and his staff are working with in terms of how he approaches different portions of an at-bat — two-strike, ahead in the count, things of that nature.”
Moncada went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.