RODON INJURED AGAIN
Lefty leaves with soreness in shoulder, but Sox rally to win
First, right-hander Reynaldo Lopez went down in his first start of the season.
Now, left-hander Carlos Rodon has gone down in his second start.
Rodon left the White Sox’ 6-4 victory Monday against the Brewers at Miller Park after two innings with soreness in his pitching shoulder. He allowed one run and three hits with one strikeout and no walks.
Rodon’s velocity dropped below 90 mph in the second inning after peaking at 92 mph in the first. The Sox’ Opening Day starter in 2019, Rodon made only seven starts last season after being limited to 20 in 2018 coming off shoulder surgery. In his first start this season, he yielded five runs, four hits and three walks in 3‰ innings against the Indians.
Rodon will be re-evaluated Tuesday. If he is sidelined, it will be the latest in a series of blows to the Sox’ pitching depth, which has taken significant losses with the opt-out of right-hander Michael Kopech, as well as an injury to right-hander Jimmy Lambert (strained forearm). Lopez is on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.
With their pitching thinning out, the Sox might have to rely even more on an offense that ranked first or second in numerous offensive categories entering the game and kept on swinging against the Brewers’ rested pitching staff. Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada homered as the Sox (6-4) won their fifth game in a row.
Abreu drove in a run in a two-run first, then hit a tying two-run home run on a 3-0 pitch in the seventh. With the Sox leading 5-4, Moncada went deep in the ninth to give them an insurance run.
Leury Garcia (3-for-4), who beat the relay on a potential double play to get on base for the 10th consecutive time in his last two games, scored on a wild pitch by David Phelps in the eighth to break a 4-4 tie.
Through nine games, the Sox ranked first in the majors in batting average (.281), tied for first in hits (92) and second in the American League in runs (50), on-base percentage (.342), slugging percentage (.456) and OPS (.797).
The Sox have banged out 21, 14 and 12 hits in their last three games with 2019 AL batting champion Tim Anderson on the injured list, and they welcomed an addition Monday with right fielder Nomar Mazara reinstated from the IL. Mazara didn’t start, but he entered for Adam Engel in the sixth and had a single in two at-bats.
‘‘You’re going to see him a lot,’’ manager Rick Renteria said. ‘‘It’s a big add for us.’’
‘‘It’s been really fun, man, just watching the guys go out there and do their thing,’’ Mazara said before the game. ‘‘We’re loaded, man.’’
Mazara was participating in summer-camp workouts at Guaranteed Rate Field when he was put on the IL on July 21. He said he had strep throat and alerted training staff, who made him follow MLB’s protocols to make sure everybody was safe.
‘‘I was only sick for two days, and that was it,’’ Mazara said.
Mazara began participating in workouts with the taxi squad in Schaumburg six days ago.
It now looks as though Rodon could go on the IL. He was replaced by rookie right-hander Matt Foster, who struck out the side in the third and pitched two scoreless innings.
Left-hander Ross Detwiler, who pitched a scoreless seventh with three strikeouts and has not been scored on in five relief appearances, is a possible replacement for Rodon. Detwiler posted a 6.59 ERA last season in 12 starts and six relief appearances, but he has looked like a different pitcher in 2020.
Evan Marshall pitched a perfect eighth to keep his ERA at 0.00, and Alex Colome pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. He retired Christian Yelich, representing the tying run, on a grounder to second to end the game.