Carlos Rodon ties Mat Latos for third on White Sox in wins

Carlos Rodon

Mat Latos pitched his last game in a White Sox uniform June 7. He was given his release June 17. He has not since appeared in a big league game with any team.

Nevertheless, Latos has ranked third on the Sox in wins all summer long with six, trailing only All-Stars Chris Sale (15-7) and Jose Quintana (11-10).

But Friday, one of the other Sox pitchers finally reached the exalted six-win plateau. Left-hander Carlos Rodon won his fourth straight decision, going a season-high seven innings in an 11-4 win over the last-place Minnesota Twins.

Rodon allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one while improving his record to 6-8. He is now tied with the erstwhile Latos for third on the team in wins. Hooray!

The Sox's offense solved a nemesis. They knocked around Minnesota right-hander Kyle Gibson (5-9) for five runs on nine hits over 5.2 innings. Gibson had allowed only one earned run in 12.2 innings in two previous starts against the Sox this year, including seven innings of shutout ball in a Minnesota victory on June 28.

In this game, the Sox pounded out a season-high 16 hits. Adam Eaton went 4 for 5 with four runs scored. Jose Abreu and Melky Cabrera both went 3 for 6 with three RBIs, and Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer, his 35th of the season. With the home run, Frazier sets a new record for homers by a Sox third baseman in a single season. The previous record (34) was set by Sox manager Robin Ventura in 1996.

But more importantly, Rodon looks poised to finish the season strong. He's 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA over his last six starts. With about five starts left, he appears to be in good position to push Latos farther down the team rankings in wins.