Lack of right-handed relief options at issue for White Sox

Rick Renteria

Sometimes I feel as though White Sox manager Rick Renteria trusts mediocre, right-handed relief pitcher Juan Minaya way more than he should.

But, every time I feel that way, I stop myself and say, "Well, if not Minaya, then who?"

In fairness to Minaya, let's first point out that he got his job done in Monday's 6-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Minaya relieved Carlos Rodon, who pitched another strong game and earned the win, in the eighth inning and retired five of the six hitters he faced.

Minaya threw 16 of his 23 pitches for strikes Monday. He allowed only a harmless single and never made you feel as though the Sox's lead was in jeopardy. Xavier Cedeno ended up getting the last out of the game, in what was a good night for the bullpen and the Sox as a whole.

Fast-forward to Tuesday night in New York. The Sox had the lead, 4-2, going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Minaya, once again, was summoned from the bullpen.

I cringed, knowing that Minaya had a multi-inning outing the night before, and I figured his stuff would not be the same.

It was not.

Minaya faced two batters. He gave up a rope of a single to Giancarlo Stanton and a long home run to Aaron Hicks. Bye-bye lead, 4-4 tie.

The Yankees won, 5-4, on a home run by Neil Walker off Dylan Covey (4-12) in the bottom of the ninth.

I'd like to blame Minaya for this loss, but he is who he is. He's an inconsistent reliever with a 4.18 season ERA. He's dominant at times, but horrible at others, and he shouldn't be considered the best right-handed relief option on a team. Really, he should be pitching in the sixth or seventh inning, not the eighth or ninth.

I'd like to blame Renteria, too, but what other right-handed relief options does he have?

Jeanmar Gomez is a veteran, but his 4.50 ERA and 1.429 WHIP do not inspire confidence. Thyago Vieira and Ryan Burr have a combined 11 big league appearances between them. Are they ready to pitch in a high-leverage situation at Yankee Stadium? Not really. Then there's Covey, who was used Tuesday in a big spot, and he lost the game, so there's that.

It was a tough loss to take Tuesday, because the Sox led, 4-0, as late as the sixth inning. However, their weaknesses in the bullpen showed up while playing a superior team. What can you do? You just have to grin and bear it for 30 more games, hope the good Minaya shows up more than the bad Minaya and hope the front office gives Renteria a deeper stable of relief arms for the 2019 season.

James Shields prevails against C.C. Sabathia in matchup of declining pitchers

C.C. Sabathia

Seven or eight years ago, a pitching matchup between James Shields and C.C. Sabathia would have been marquee material.

On Monday, it was just another game, featuring a 34-year-old right-hander with an ERA near six and a soon-to-be-36-year-old 300-pound left-hander with bad knees.

Who would win this battle of titans?

Fortunately for the White Sox, it was Shields, who fired six innings of two-run ball to help the South Siders to an 8-2 win over the New York Yankees.

Neither starter was on solid ground in this game. Shields put the Sox in an early 2-0 hole when he gave up a two-run homer to Chase Headley in the top of the second inning. Sabathia surrendered the lead when Tim Anderson took him deep for a two-run homer to tie the score in the third.

The game remained tied at 2 at the halfway point, and there was a definite feeling that both teams should have had more runs.

The Sox got two men on in the first inning, but didn't score. They loaded the bases with one out in the third after Anderson's homer, but couldn't tack on any runs. They stranded a man at third in the fourth.

The Yankees had runners at second and third with one out in the fourth, but couldn't cash in. They got a runner to second base with one out as the result of two Sox errors in the fifth, but failed to score.

This came down to which pitcher was going to crack the third time through the batting order, and it was Sabathia. The Sox touched him up for three runs in the fifth. Brett Lawrie's sacrifice fly scored Todd Frazier, who had doubled, and Dioner Navarro's two-run homer put the Sox ahead, 5-2.

Shields once again walked the tightrope in the sixth inning, but the Yankees failed to score after placing runners at first and third. The Sox right-hander escaped that situation by getting Aaron Hicks to fly out to right field.

Shields' final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 Ks, 2 BBs, 1 HR. That was good enough for his second win in a Sox uniform.

The Sox tacked on one in the seventh and two in the eighth. Four Sox relievers combined for three innings of scoreless relief, and for a change, David Robertson's services were not needed to close out a victory.

Dan Jennings allowed two base runners in the top of the ninth, but finished off the six-run win in comfortable fashion.

The Sox enter Tuesday's play having won 10 of their past 14 games.