Dallas believes the word is flat
Left-hander Dallas Keuchel is “frustrated,” and it’s understandable.
He gave the White Sox a chance to win for the fourth time in as many starts but saw his team look “flat” Monday in a 5-1 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.
“We came out flat and stayed flat the whole game,” Keuchel said. “We have some guys taking professional at-bats. Some guys are kind of going through the motions. It seemed like we were taking the night off . . . very subpar play from everybody.”
Opening a three-game road series against a team they thought they would be better than but aren’t, the Sox (8-9) scraped together one run against six Tigers pitchers and lost for the fifth time in six games.
Already banged up, they saw Leury Garcia leave the game after jamming his left thumb on a slide into first base to beat out an infield single and Jose Abreu come away hobbling after landing awkwardly on first base. Abreu has a sore right hip and will be re-evaluated along with Garcia on Tuesday.
The Sox have scored 14 runs in their last seven games and are 4-for-47 with runners in scoring position in the last eight games. The only run came on Adam Engel’s groundout that scored Danny Mendick (3-for-4), who had tripled in the seventh.
Engel, playing center field in place of Luis Robert, charged Jacoby Jones’ liner in the seventh against Codi Heuer and missed it, allowing the ball to skip to the wall. Jones circled the bases for the second inside-the-park home run against the Sox this season.
Keuchel (2-2) allowed three runs in six innings.
“We have some pretty talented players,” manager Rick Renteria said. “There is no magic bullet, no secret.
“I can’t even consider thinking that there is anything wrong with the talent that we have. We’re not executing. We’re not getting it done.”
Cooper to miss series
Don Cooper will miss the series against the Tigers because he is scheduled to have an arthroscopic procedure Tuesday on his left knee.
Assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler will fill in for Cooper, and minor-league catching coordinator John Orton will oversee the bullpen.
Cooper, 64, in his 18th full season as the Sox’ pitching coach, is expected to rejoin the club Friday, when the team opens a scheduled three-game series at home against the Cardinals.
This and that
Shortstop Tim Anderson (groin) is expected to come off the injured list Tuesday. Edwin Encarnacion (left shoulder), who did not start for a sixth consecutive game, might return Tuesday.
The start time for Saturday’s game between the Sox and Cardinals has been changed to 6:10 p.m. It had been scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
Right-hander Brady Lail, who was designated for assignment by the Sox on Saturday, was claimed by the Mariners. Lail pitched in one game, working 1⅓ innings.
Former Sox prospects Fernando Tatis Jr. and Frankie Montas were named National League and American League players of the week. Tatis, the Padres shortstop who has emerged as one of baseball’s great young stars, batted .435 with six homers over six games. Montas, a right-hander, went 2-0 with an ERA of 0.64 and 14 strikeouts over two starts and 14 innings for the Athletics.