A very White Sox-like Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field (Michael Kopech's debut)

It figures, doesn't it?

With Michael Kopech making his major league debut, the White Sox had an extra 9,000 fans walk up to the ticket booth, and the crowd at Guaranteed Rate Field was fully engaged in the game for perhaps the first time since Opening Day.

The buzz died quickly, but not because Kopech did anything disappointing. He kept the Minnesota Twins off the board for two innings, striking out four men and pitching out of a first-inning jam.

But then the rains came, and after a 52-minute delay, Sox brass decided it was best not to send Kopech back to the mound.

Wise decision, in my opinion, but it sure stinks for the fans who bought tickets for that game. The Sox ended up losing, 5-2, after the Twins scored three runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.

The other big Sox news from Tuesday? Jose Abreu had unexpected, outpatient surgery on his lower abdominal/groin area, and he will not be able to resume baseball activities for at least 10 days.

So, the best player on the club is headed to the disabled list, and the top pitching prospect had his highly anticipated debut cut short by circumstances beyond anyone's control.

Does this kind of stuff happen to other teams besides the Sox? Sometimes it sure feels as though we're the only fan base that has to tolerate this sort of thing, and it sure does stink.

But we'll keep watching, hoping for a speedy recovery for Abreu and an opportunity to see more of Kopech in his next start, likely Sunday afternoon at Detroit.

Roster moves

As mentioned, Abreu is on the disabled list, and infielder Jose Rondon has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take his place.

Rondon appeared in 22 games earlier this season with the Sox, hitting .245/.288./.490 with three doubles, three home runs and six RBIs in 52 plate appearances. He's been having a decent season at shortstop in Charlotte, where he was hitting .250/.290/.497 with 18 home runs, 15 doubles and 38 RBIs in 80 games.

The Sox on Tuesday also traded left-handed reliever Luis Avilan to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-handed pitcher Felix Paulino. Paulino will be assigned to Double-A Birmingham.

Right-handed reliever Ryan Burr has been called up from Charlotte to take Avilan's place on the 25-man roster.

Burr, 24, has a 4-3 record with a 2.45 ERA, two saves, a .190 opponent batting average and 51 strikeouts in 51.1 innings over 37 combined appearances this season between Birmingham and Charlotte.

In his past 21 appearances -- 14 in Birmingham, seven in Charlotte -- Burr allowed only one run in 28.2 innings.

What's working for the White Sox? Jose Abreu and Carlos Rodon

Jose Abreu

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu always has been a second-half hitter, and August historically has been the best month of his career.

Abreu has a lifetime .330/.389/.571 slash line with 28 home runs, 31 doubles and 79 RBIs in 125 August games.

The calendar says August, and the Sox's most accomplished hitter is once again tearing it up. In his past 14 games, Abreu is hitting .327/.361/.673 with five home runs, four doubles and 14 RBIs.

On Wednesday, Abreu went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs in a 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers. He now has 21 home runs and 73 RBIs this season, and with 42 games to go, he needs 27 more RBIs for his fifth consecutive 100-RBI season.

He'll have to stay hot, but I'm not going to count him out.

The other bright spot for the Sox: starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (4-3), who earned the win Wednesday.

Since July 1, Rodon has made seven starts, going 3-0 with a 1.60 ERA. He's thrown 50.2 innings, an average of more than seven a start, and he's allowed only 27 hits and two home runs over that span. He has struck out 42 and walked 20, so that means he's allowing less than a base runner an inning.

Against the Tigers, Rodon pitched eight innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked only one. This particular start is the only one in the past seven in which Rodon allowed more than two earned runs.

The Tigers on Wednesday got all three of their runs in the third inning, and frankly, I'd chalk it up to a fluky inning. Detroit had runners on second and third with no outs before Rodon struck out Victor Reyes for the first out. The next hitter was Jeimer Candelario, and on a 1-2 pitch, Rodon poured a fastball right over the outside corner. Candelario could not pull the trigger, but the umpire missed the call. That should have been strike three and two outs, but instead, Rodon hit Candelario on the next pitch with a back-foot slider to load the bases.

Jose Iglesias followed with a bloop single, and Nick Castellanos hit a grounder with eyes for a single, and all of a sudden the Tigers had three runs on not much solid contact.

But Rodon settled down after those tough breaks and allowed nothing over the next five innings. In fact, four of the six base runners Rodon allowed were in that third inning. He dominated the rest of the game, and the offense supported him.

Matt Davidson's two-run homer in the fourth inning gave the Sox the lead for good at 4-3. Abreu added a two-run shot in the fifth for a 6-3 lead.

The Sox bullpen coughed up two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to make it stressful. The Tigers had both the tying and winning runs on base with two outs before Luis Avilan retired Reyes on a fly ball to center field to end the game.

Reynaldo Lopez good, White Sox bullpen bad

Reynaldo Lopez

The White Sox lost for the first time this season Monday night, 4-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays, although it was not Reynaldo Lopez's fault.

The right-hander's 2018 debut was an impressive one. He went six innings, allowing only one run on two hits. One of those hits was a solo home run by Josh Donaldson, the other an infield single by Curtis Granderson that could have just as easily been an error on shortstop Tim Anderson.

Lopez struck out six and walked two, and the Sox led, 2-1, in the seventh inning when he left the game.

Alas, relievers Luis Avilan and Danny Farquhar could not hold the lead. We're told that Avilan is a lefty specialist, but the early returns have not been impressive in a small sample size.

In the season opener, Avilan gave up a ringing double to Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas. On Monday, he walked Granderson, allowing the tying run to reach base. Farquhar entered the game and served up a two-strike meatball to Russell Martin, who hit a two-run homer to put Toronto ahead, 3-2.

I don't like the home run at all, but I like the walk in a one-run game even less. Avilan has to get left-handed batters out -- that's his one purpose on the roster.

Farquhar (1-1) gave up another home run in the eighth inning, this one to Aledmys Diaz, that made it 4-2. I don't think this will be the last time the Sox struggle to get outs in the seventh and eighth innings of close games -- the bullpen is the biggest weakness of the team.

The Sox showed an ability to come from behind in each of their first two games, which is a good habit to get into. However, you can't come back every day, and the Toronto bullpen was up to the task the last two innings of Monday's game.

It's unfortunate, because a two-homer game from Welington Castillo went to waste, not to mention the strong outing from Lopez, whose performance would oftentimes be good enough to earn a win.

White Sox acquire relievers Joakim Soria, Luis Avilan in three-team deal

Joakim Soria

It has been somewhat surprising that the White Sox have not addressed their depleted bullpen through free agency, but perhaps their plan all along was to acquire a couple of veteran relievers through a trade.

The Sox on Thursday added veteran right-hander Joakim Soria from the Kansas City Royals and left-hander Luis Avilan from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team deal.

It seems as if the Royals might be looking to clear some salary in order to make a bigger offer to free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer. In addition to sending Soria to Chicago, they sent left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to the Dodgers.

Los Angeles also receives minor-league infielder Jake Peter, who is the only player the Sox parted with in this deal. Peter had a nice year in 2017, hitting a combined .279 between Triple-A Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham, but he's blocked by Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Yolmer Sanchez in Chicago, and didn't appear to be part of the Sox's long-term plan.

Kansas City receives infielder Erick Mejia and right-handed pitcher Trevor Oaks from the Dodgers as part of the deal.

The only way this trade doesn't work out for the Sox is if Peter somehow becomes more than the utility infielder most people believe he is.

Although neither Soria nor Avilan figure to be part of the Sox's long-term plan, either, the two veterans provide a short-term solution in the late innings -- at least for the first half of 2018 -- and if they pitch well, they could be candidates to be traded midseason to contending teams in exchange for prospects who are more highly regarded than Peter.

Soria, 33, has 204 career saves, so I think we have a good idea of who has the ninth inning for the Sox when the season opens. Soria is not the pitcher he was in the past -- his ERA was an ordinary 3.70 for Kansas City last season -- but he has experience as a closer, and he kept the ball in the ballpark in 2017. He allowed only one home run in 56 innings, and at Guaranteed Rate Field, you want relief pitchers who keep the ball out of the air.

Avilan, 28, was 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 46 innings and 61 games with the Dodgers last year. The left-hander's main value comes in getting left-handed hitters out. In 2017, left-handed hitters slashed .195/.290/.280 against Avilan, while right-handers slashed .292/.376/.449. This is a pitcher that can be effective if manager Rick Renteria puts him in favorable matchup situations.

With this trade, here's how the Sox bullpen might look if the season started today:

Right-handers:
Soria
Nate Jones
Juan Minaya
Danny Farquhar
Greg Infante

Left-handers:
Avilan
Aaron Bummer

Assuming a 12-man pitching staff, those likely are your seven relievers. Other bullpen candidates include right-handers Thyago Vieira, Jose Ruiz and Dylan Covey, plus left-hander Jace Fry.