Angels jump on Rodon in 1st
Lefty doesn’t make it out of the inning; Sox held to three hits
Todd Frazier seemed relaxed before the White Sox opened a seven- game homestand at U. S. Cellular Field.
But he knew it was time for the Sox’ offense to tighten things up.
“We know what we’re capable of, and we really haven’t been showing it even though we’re [ 8- 5],’’ Frazier said. “We’ve been winning games close, but it’s about that time. There’s no more excuses, it’s time to deliver — [ 8- 5] is great, but we can definitely do better bats- wise.’’
If they can, it wasn’t demonstrated against former Sox lefty Hector Santiago, who matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and held the Sox to two hits in seven innings in the Angels’ 7- 0 victory Monday. The Sox have scored three, three, one, two, two and no runs in their last six games and have lost three in a row after winning five straight and getting off to an 8- 2 start.
This one, before a paid crowd of 14,706, seemed decided at around 7: 30 p. m., 20 minutes after Carlos Rodon’s first pitch.
Pitching carried the Sox out of the gate, but Rodon fell behind in the count to almost every hitter. He got peppered for five runs in the first inning and got only one out.
After a single by Yunel Escobar and one- out walks by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols loaded the bases, the Angels had five consecutive singles, forcing manager Robin Ventura to yank the lefty, who came into the game with a 1.38 ERA over his first two starts and 10 consecutive quality starts featuring a 1.73 ERA during that span dating to last season.
It also forced the Sox to make a roster move to get more pitching from Class AAA Charlotte. After the game, J. B. Shuck was optioned, and a corresponding move will be announced Tuesday after Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam and Dan Jennings worked multiple innings to cover for Rodon’s surprising dud.
“He was all over the place,’’ Ventura said. “It looked like [ catcher Dioner Navarro] was having to get him back in line, and they put it in play. They hit him pretty good, too. Not a good night for Carlos, and we didn’t swing it that well, either. We need to get that going and turn it around.’’
“Yeah, we’ll get going,’’ said Frazier, who made three nice plays at third base but went 0- for- 3 with a walk as his average dropped to .154. “Just one of those stretches.
“It bothers me a lot. It’s something you never want to go through in any profession. But you’ve got to figure out a way to get through that, and we’ve been working with the coaches.’’
Adam Eaton ( 1- for- 4, double) is setting the table at the top of the order, but nobody is cleaning up. Jose Abreu (. 217) and Avisail Garcia (. 171) have five RBI apiece, Frazier six and Brett Lawrie three. Austin Jackson is hitting .184, and the catchers have four hits combined.
“We still have to put more pressure [ on opposing pitchers],’’ Eaton said. “That’s something we’ve stressed, and we need to continue to stress. We need to get this offense going. There’s a ton of talent. We all know that.’’
Rodon has tons of pitching talent, and while this is not the first terrible start of his short career, it blindsided everyone, including Rodon, who said he felt good warming up.
“Felt good coming out, and it just wasn’t there,’’ he said. “No command, nothing.
“Just [ have to] kind of forget about it. I had nine innings of baseball to think about it. Tomorrow’s a new day, and this team has got to win. We’ve got to get out of this losing streak and get this thing going again.’’