In a battle of young promising pitchers, the White Sox had Carlos Rodon on the mound while the Royals sent out Yordano Ventura. Ventura has a bad reputation for causing violence on the field, but the most violent thing on the field Friday night was Carlos Rodon‘s slider.

1. Rodon pitched another fantastic game, continuing the success that he’s seen since the start of August. A high pitch count caused him to leave after six innings, but in those six innings he did plenty of damage. Rodon gave up two runs in the top of the first inning on two hits and error, but he struck out two to minimize damage and settled in nicely afterward. His final line was 6 IP with 1 ER, 2 BB, and a season-high 9 K, capped off by a bases loaded strikeout of Paulo Orlando to end the sixth. Rodon had all three pitches working well, and his comfort with Omar Narvaez behind the plate becomes more and more apparent with each start. He now holds a 3.80 ERA on the season and 2.66 ERA in the second half.

2. Adam Eaton got the game off to a good start with a leadoff double in the White Sox half of the first. He eventually came around to score on a Melky Cabrera sacrifice fly. He doubled again in the fifth and came around to score once more thanks to Cabrera, who singled him home to right. Eaton remains one of just three qualified White Sox hitters with a wRC+ above 100 (Jose Abreu and Cabrera are the other two).

3. Tyler Saladino hit last in the lineup, but was a huge contributor to the Sox offense in this game. He went 3-for-4, scored to tie game at 2-2 in the third, and drove in two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. His contributions out of a utility role, as well as in the wake of Brett Lawrie‘s never-ending hamstring injury have been great for the White Sox. He’s proven his ability to be an incredibly useful player off the bench, which could come in handy if the White Sox become playoff contenders in the near future.

4. With neither David Robertson or Nate Jones likely making an appearance in this game due to heavy workloads, the Sox were forced to turn to their other arms in the bullpen. Chris Beck, Dan Jennings, and Tommy Kahnle all combined for three scoreless innings. Kahnle came in to finish the game in the 9th after the White Sox added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to push the game to 7-2. Had the Sox not scored those runs, perhaps we would have seen Matt Albers get the first save of his career. Unfortunately, that will be saved for another day.

5. The White Sox offense has now scored seven runs in back to back games. It’s relatively meaningless, especially for a team well out of the playoff race in 2016, but it’s always good to see this offense produce. All of this will be forgotten, of course, when they inevitably go through a stretch where they struggle to score even at all. It is, however, a good sign to see players that will return in 2017 like Abreu, Saladino and Eaton have strong finishes to their seasons. Anything that may propel the White Sox roster is 2017–whatever it may look like–toward more wins is about as much optimism as can be found in a September game from a team that likely won’t win much more than 75 games.

Team Record: 68-72

Next game is Saturday vs. Kansas City at 6:10pm CT on CSN

Lead Image Credit: Mike Dinovo // USA Today Sports Images

1. Staring down a nine-game suspension related to that very bad night that is pending appeal, Ventura found time toss his first great game of the season, striking out 10 White Sox hitters Sunday compared to just six baserunners allowed over seven one-run innings. Only a fool would fail to note the improved location for a guy who sits very easily in the high-90s and flashes plus secondary pitches whenever his mind and body are right, and that ace-like performances are always stirring under the surface for Ventura.

2. But, given that the Sox needed 26 outs before they could scratch out a tally against Danny Duffy & Co. Saturday, and have slid under four runs per game for the season, having Ventura’s sudden breakout take place on their home field is not something for which they are granted the benefit of the doubt.

Jose Abreu turning on a 98 mph center-cut fastball and blasting a solo shot way out to dead center in the sixth was the only run for the Sox Sunday, but at least it was an extremely encouraging single appearance for Sox hitting. He’s up to .260/.315/.415 on the season, which is a horrific disappointment for him, but at least it’s something playable.

Tim Anderson, for whom growing pains are to be expected, is hitless since his Friday night debut, and Justin Morneau is not on the 25-man roster yet, and thus unable to assist and offense in need of help.

3. Carlos Rodon struggled with command early for the umpteenth time this season, and was treated for it with the frequently overprescribed remedy of heavy doses of Royals singles. Kendrys Morales sprayed a two-out single to right-center to drive home Whit Merrifield in the first inning, and Merrifield came up again in the second and scooped a low slider through the five-six hole in the second to score another.

Rodon was saved from further damage by Alex Avila throwing out two potential base thieves in the first two innings, and erasing Lorenzo Cain in the third when he took the step of following through on a throw into Morales, who had just struck out, generating the interference call Avila was denied weeks ago.

4. Despite the early static, Rodon stabilized for six innings, set himself up to break out his nightmare slider a bit more near the close of his day, and did not allow another run and struck out seven compared to two walks. He now has seven quality starts in 12 outings on the year, and has a 2.54 ERA against the Royals in three starts, one of which the Sox actually won.

5. With the loss, the White Sox are back in fourth place in the AL Central–though they do look to be safe from Minnesota–and have a lost an almost unimaginable nine out of their last 10 series.

Team Record: 31-32

Next game is Monday vs. Detroit at 7:10pm CT on WPWR

Lead Image Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski // USA Today Sports Images

1. Entering the bottom of the 9th inning with a six run lead seems like a good enough time to let your closer get some work in, but the story was quite different for David Robertson today. After a strikeout looking to Paolo Orlando to lead off the frame, everything hit the fan. A single to Cheslor Cuthbert started a the rally and was followed up by a long fly ball that Eaton lost in the sun and ended up as a double off the wall. After back to back walks scored the Royals’ second run, Whit Merrifield lanced a likely game ending double play ball off of Robertson’s glove for two more runs. Lorenzo Cain followed with a fielder’s choice ground out that was almost but not quite another game ending double play. A Hosmer double would chase Robertson and bring Tommy Kahnle into a game that Tommy Kahnle was neither expecting nor equipped to handle. A quick double tied the game, and the clearly shaky Kahnle ended up intentionally walking consecutive batters before giving up a walk off single under the glove of a diving Jose Abreu. A series of bad bounces, bad plays, and bad pitches led to a predictable result.

2. However, for 8.5 innings, things looked downright rosy! “Vaunted” and “nightmare inducing” are not commonplace terms when describing the bottom third of the White Sox lineup, but they did the heavy lifting against  Yordano Ventura. The combination of Alex Avila, Avisail Garcia, and Tyler Saladino punished Ventura by going five for nine with two home runs, a double, five runs, and six RBI.

A trio of two out flares in the 2nd put the White Sox ahead 1-0 before Tyler Saladino yanked a hanging curveball into the Royals’ baby blue bullpen. Two innings later Avisail Garcia did that “one thing he does right-ish” and crushed a hanging changeup 420+ feet into the fountain in left. Yordano Ventura seems unaware of the scouting report that all other teams have on Avi’s inability to hit elite velocity, and he was punished for it. For a guy who can run it up in the high 90s, Ventura’s game plan seemed overly dependent on his off-speed stuff and it did not play well.

3. Rodon had his second consecutive pairing with the Royals and turned in a one run start that was decidedly more stressful than the box score would have you believe. He needed 105 pitches to get through five innings and recorded just a single 1-2-3 inning. He survived by the skin of his teeth, escaping a bases loaded jam in the 2nd and stranding runners at second and third in the 5th. It was a game that could have turned out markedly different if the typical Royals magic had peeked out earlier on.

4. This was also the second consecutive go-round for Rodon with Alex Avila. The pairing with Avila did not do wonders for his command. Both pitchers benefited from a generous strike zone from home plate umpire Will Little, but Rodon was missing his spots too often to get Royals’ hitters to chase his slider out of the zone. The end result was a five inning, two walk, three strikeout performance that continued the short trend of positive starts that have brought his ERA back to a more reasonable 4.24. If one could remove the disastrous outing in Los Angeles and the recent pummeling in Texas, Rodon would be looking at a much prettier stat card – 2.86 ERA, 1.25 WHIP. Unfortunately, that’s not how baseball works.

5. Speaking of Alex “Soft Hands” Avila, the backstop had rough day behind the plate. Early on he seemed to be having trouble with Rodon’s stuff and dropped several pitches throughout the effort. He allowed two more stolen bases bringing his 2016 record for throwing out batters to 1 for 11. In the nightmare ninth, he dropped a ball on an intentional walk allowing a runner to advance to third. To add insult to injury, he twice took shots to the back of the head on follow-throughs. For catchers that haven’t already missed time with concussions, this would be less of an issue. Unfortunately that does not apply to Alex Avila.

6. And finally, the Royals string of disastrous results on foul pops continued with Salvador Perez and Chelsor Cuthbert colliding on a ball in the top of the ninth. After laying on the ground in visible pain for several minutes, Perez was able to walk off the field with assistance from the trainers. This is the continuation of a theme for a team who has already lost two of their best players (Gordon and Moustakas) on foul pops.

Team Record: 27-23

Next game is Sunday at Kansas City at 1:15 p.m. CT
Lead Photo Credit: John Rieger

1. Have yourself a day, Rodon. I know a lot of fans are impatient and want him to have immediate success, but pitching development takes some time, especially when you’re just 23 years old. On Sunday, though, Rodon was sharp. It looked like he would run into some of his early woes again in the second inning, but he worked out of it. After allowing lead off hits to Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, he got Alex Gordon to ground into a double play, and only allowed one run to score on a Paulo Orlando RBI single. He also ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth, as he allowed runners to get on second and third with one out, but only allowed one run on an Omar Infante sacrifice fly. Overall, Rodon had a very nice day: 6 2/3 innings, four strikeouts, two walks, eight hits, and just those two earned runs. His ERA now sits at 4.47. Oh yeah, and the slider looks good:

#Awkward pic.twitter.com/a41x56mNEl

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 22, 2016

2. We all know the offense is slumping immensely. The last time the White Sox have had a multi-run inning was on Tuesday against the Astros, and they have just scored 12 runs total in that span. They didn’t fully break out of the slump, but at least they got the multi-run inning. Todd Frazier hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth against Yordano Ventura, and Melky Cabrera hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth after the Sox loaded the bases with two outs. That was a funny situation, and not a great decision from Ventura: with runners on second and third and two ours, he essentially unintentionally-intentionally walked Frazier to bring up Cabrera, who clearly has the platoon advantage there. Cabrera took advantage, and it gave them the lead.

3. The Sox had a couple of opportunities to pick up an insurance run after the Cabrera hit, but nothing came of it. They put a runner on third with one out in the sixth after a Brett Lawrie double and a sac bunt, but nothing. They put a runner on second with two outs in the seventh, but also nothing. Even though the Sox won this game, the offensive slumber isn’t over.

4. The bullpen did a really nice job piecing the win together after Rodon was pulled in the seventh. Matt Albers picked up the final out of the inning by striking out Lorenzo Cain, then Zach Duke induced a pop out from Hosmer. Nate Jones struck out Perez and Whit Merrifield, and then David Robertson worked a one-two-three ninth inning to get the save.

5. The Sox have a very, very important stretch of baseball coming up, as they’ll take on the Cleveland Indians for a four-game set (over three days) at home. There will be a doubleheader tomorrow, and the action will start at 4:10 p.m. CT. Mat Latos will face Mike Clevinger in Gane 1, and Erik Johnson will face 26th man Cody Anderson in Game 2.

Team record: 26-18

Lead Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports