Lance Lynn, Elvis Andrus help White Sox win opener in Seattle

The White Sox offense still has trouble generating runs consistently, but it does seem as though veteran right-hander Lance Lynn has regained his form.

Entering Monday's series opener at Seattle, Lynn had allowed only five earned runs over 24.2 innings over his past four starts -- two wins and two no-decisions. Over that same span, he struck out 29 batters while walking only two.

Against the Mariners, Lynn (5-5) came up with his best outing of the season. He went seven innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits in a 3-2 Sox victory.

Lynn struck out 11 and walked only one, while generating 25 swings-and-misses on 89 pitches -- 63 of them for strikes. There were some pretty nasty shadows on the field with the game starting at 3:40 p.m. Pacific time, and that made conditions rough for batters.

Nevertheless, we have to say Lynn's stuff was sharp given that he retired the last 17 men he faced, and very little contact was made against him.

The Sox scored their three runs early off Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (10-13). In the second inning, AJ Pollock hit his 11th home run of the season. Elvis Andrus also hit his 11th homer (and third since joining the Sox) -- a two-run shot in the top of the third.

Andrus added a double and went 2 for 4. For whatever reason, he swings the bat really well in Seattle. At T-Mobile Park this season, dating back to his time with Oakland, he's 10 for 24 with five of his 11 home runs.

The Sox bullpen closed it out, although in dramatic fashion. Kendall Graveman worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless eighth. Liam Hendriks gave up a run on a walk and two singles in the ninth. The Mariners had the tying run at third and the winning run at second when Hendriks fanned Adam Frazier on three pitches to record his 30th save of the season.

Hendriks becomes the sixth Sox closer to record 30 or more saves in back-to-back seasons. The others are Bobby Thigpen, Roberto Hernandez, Keith Foulke, Bobby Jenks and David Robertson.

The Sox are 68-67.

New White Sox manager Rick Renteria's coaching staff will feature familiar people

Joe McEwing

If you were hoping for significant changes to the White Sox coaching staff this offseason, prepare to be disappointed.

The only hope I have is that new manager Rick Renteria was allowed to make his own choices with regard to the coaching staff. I have no evidence one way or the other, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't suspect that these selections were made for him.

In any case, third-base coach Joe McEwing has been promoted to bench coach, taking the role vacated by Renteria when he accepted the job as manager. McEwing, 44, served as third-base coach for each of the five seasons Robin Ventura was manager. He also managed in the Sox's minor-league system for three seasons. He has been with the organization for nine years.

The McEwing move, of course, creates a need for a new third-base coach, a role that will be filled by Nick Capra, who had been serving as the team's director of player development. Capra has been in that front office role for five years, but he also has been the minor-league field coordinator, the assistant director of minor-league instruction and the minor-league hitting coordinator. Before that, he managed in the Sox's system for 10 seasons. Capra, 58, has been with the organization for 21 years.

Minor-league pitching coordinator Curt Hasler will replace Bobby Thigpen as the team's bullpen coach. Hasler, 51, has been the minor-league pitching coordinator for six years. He pitched in the Sox organization from 1987 to 1991, and he pretty much never left. He's been a pitching coach or coordinator somewhere in the organization for the past 25 years.

Don Cooper will return for his 30th year with the Sox and 16th as pitching coach. Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks also return. Daryl Boston remains as the first-base coach.

The organization men have been shuffled around a little bit, but basically, the gang is still all here -- except for Ventura. Typically, you'd expect bigger changes after four consecutive losing seasons, but as we've learned, that's not the Jerry Reinsdorf way.