Anderson (hammy) exits in 1st
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shortstop Tim Anderson left the White Sox’ game against the Angels on Sunday night with tightness in his left hamstring after running out a ground ball to open the game.
In the bottom of the first, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani homered on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Dylan Cease in a two-run inning.
Not the start the Sox were looking for, and the ending was worse. Jared Walsh hit a three-run homer off Matt Foster in the ninth to give the Angels a 7-4 victory and drop the Sox’ record to 1-3.
Anderson is day-to-day after coming up sore while running out the grounder to second baseman David Fletcher. The ball Ohtani hit, 451 feet at 115.2 mph, is out for the season.
The Sox opened the season without outfielders Eloy Jimenez (torn pectoral muscle) and Adam Engel (hamstring) and lost right-hander Jimmy Cordero to Tommy John surgery, so they can’t bear too much more injury stress. Leury Garcia replaced Anderson at shortstop.
Anderson, who hit his first home run Friday in the Sox’ 12-8 win over the Angels, won the American League batting title (.335) in 2019 and finished second (.322) in the AL in average in 2020, winning his first Silver Slugger.
Oh, Ohtani
Ohtani, batting second in manager Joe Maddon’s lineup, pitched and hit for the first time in his career and was the first starting pitcher to bat second since Jack Dunleavy in 1903. He threw the fastest pitch of any starting pitcher in the young season (100.6 mph) and had the hardest-hit homer of any player.
Ohtani pitched 4⅔ innings and left in a 3-3 tie after the Sox scored two runs on a dropped third strike when catcher Max Stassi’s throw to first allowed Jose Abreu to score from second after Garcia scored from third.
Coming off an encouraging spring (1.06 ERA), Cease needed 30 pitches to get through a rocky first inning, He allowed three runs, five hits and three walks through his first four innings.
Rodon ‘addicted to work’
Carlos Rodon makes his first start Monday, opening a threegame series at Seattle after 13⅔ excellent spring innings in which he allowed two runs. For assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler, the excellent Rodon in March was all about him being healthy as well as the finish in his delivery.
“His finish, staying into his leg or foot, helps him gain the right direction,” Hasler said. “And he’s out there every day working on it, addicted to the work, and it’s paying off big time. His velocity is back, and he’s healthy again.”
Rodon struck out 16 batters and walked only one in spring training.
Lefty Justus Sheffield starts for the Mariners. The Sox have won 15 straight games against lefty starters, tied with the 1939 Yankees for the third-longest streak in MLB history. The Sox’ last loss against a team with a lefty starter was on Sept. 28, 2019, against the Tigers and Tyler Alexander.
This and that
Andrew Vaughn did not start but will on Monday and Tuesday against Mariners left-handers. Manager Tony La Russa gave Billy Hamilton his first start in left field Sunday.
La Russa said Engel (hamstring) is progressing well at the facility in Schaumburg. Engel is expected back in the middle of the month.