Sunday’s sport was solely the second this month that Romy Gonzalez has had an at-bat.
The Chicago White Sox infielder made the a lot of the alternative with three hits — together with a go-ahead, two-run triple — in a 5-2 victory in opposition to the Kansas City Royals.
“It’s tough when you’re not playing every day,” Gonzalez mentioned. “But you’ve acquired to remain as prepared as doable. I’ve achieved numerous work within the cages with (assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson) and I put together like I’m taking part in day by day.
“Baseball is definitely a long season. We play 162. You can’t dwell on what’s happened in the past. You just keep your head up and keep working. It’s all you can do. Keep grinding. It was definitely a good day and huge to get that sweep.”
Lance Lynn continued a string of robust beginning pitching because the Sox accomplished their first three-game sweep of the season in entrance of 23,556 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Gonzalez went on the injured listing May 1 with proper shoulder irritation. He returned May 13 and his first at-bats of the month got here Friday, when he went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly in a 2-0 win in opposition to the Royals.
He began at second base in that sport. He shifted to shortstop Sunday, giving Tim Anderson a breather.
“One thing Romy does is he prepares like he’s playing every day,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol mentioned. “When he doesn’t play, he doesn’t play, however he’s ready to play.
“Opportunity meets preparation at some point, and (Sunday) was a good opportunity for Romy to start at shortstop.”
Gonzalez singled within the third, his first hit since April 27 in opposition to the Tampa Bay Rays, and stole second.
A solo house run within the fourth by Luis Robert Jr. — his thirteenth of the season — acquired the Sox inside 2-1.
Clint Frazier, who joined the crew from Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday, and Gavin Sheets started the fifth with singles. Hanser Alberto moved them over with a bunt however was damage whereas making an attempt to offer the protected sign and left the sport with left shoulder soreness.
“It was a bizarre injury,” Grifol mentioned. “He laid down a perfect bunt, he’s running down the line and he just waved his hands safe and he felt his shoulder kind of in and out, but he’s good. He’s day to day and his strength was good. It was actually really good news.”
Gonzalez adopted with a liner to the right-center hole for the two-run triple that gave the Sox a 3-2 lead.
“I was just looking for something to drive,” Gonzalez mentioned. “Had a superb pitch and put a superb swing on it. Happy I acquired that hole for certain.
“I kind of stumbled a little bit. It’s been a while since I ran that far. But, yeah, man, I was thinking three right out of the box for sure.”
He scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Andrew Benintendi.
Anderson, who entered at shortstop after Alberto’s harm with Gonzalez shifting to second, singled to start a two-out rally within the seventh. Gonzalez singled once more and Benintendi collected his second RBI with a single, making it 5-2.
The Sox have received 5 of six, with the beginning pitching main the way in which.
Lynn offered six stable innings Sunday, permitting two runs — a homer by Michael Massey within the second — on 4 hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
“The starters as a whole are doing what we’re capable of,” Lynn mentioned. “That’s what we’re making an attempt to do day in and time out. We’ve acquired six straight high quality begins, so if we do what we’re alleged to do, it places the bullpen in a great spot and also you’ve seen them actually take off too.
“Whenever you win two series in a row (and) you get a sweep on the back end of a homestand, it’s nice. We’re playing good baseball and hoping we can keep it going on the road here.”
The Sox should do some maneuvering with their rotation after putting Mike Clevinger on the 15-day IL with proper wrist irritation. The transfer, introduced earlier than the sport, is retroactive to Thursday.
Clevinger is 3-3 with a 4.56 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 9 begins. The Sox will announce the corresponding transfer earlier than Monday’s collection opener in Cleveland. Grifol mentioned the soreness began throughout Clevinger’s final outing in opposition to the Guardians on Wednesday.
“That’s a blow, and we’ve got to figure out how to get through that,” Lynn mentioned. “We’ve acquired any person arising they usually’ve acquired to be the following man up. That’s the mentality it’s important to have by means of the lengthy season.
“Not everybody’s going to be here at all times — it’s pretty much impossible. You’ve got to have depth and you’ve got to have guys that are coming up and we’ve got to make sure, when they do come up to help, that we give them everything they need to be successful.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com