Chicago White Sox

Alex Rios is no stranger to strong starts with the White Sox -- this season qualifies as his third -- but he's seldom received recognition for them. That's mostly his own doing, because these strong Aprils and Mays were preceded by awful seasons, making any kind of rebound easy to write off as a fluke. But here we are on May 22, with Rios well on the way to putting together his ninth consecutive baseball month of excellence. He's hitting .306/.369/.559, and the middle number is the most surprising. He's had power and speed his whole life, but he's found a way to be the most selective he's ever been, too. Either that, or teams are nibbling around Rios to take their chances with Adam Dunn or Paul Konerko, and Rios isn't biting. Whether a byproduct of a refined approach or underperforming teammates, Rios is seventh in the AL with a .394 wOBA. His previous career high? .366, so this is exciting new territory even for those of us who have watched him complete one of the more drastic image reversals in recent memory. Hell, he's even riding a career-long 16-game hitting streak. Everything is coming up Rios now, and Ken Rosenthal wanted to know how it happened. The answer is straight-up, yo: "It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had with a hitter," said Manto, who initially proceeded cautiously with Rios as the team’s new hitting coach last season. "It was a blast, an absolute blast working with him."We both decided that maybe getting taller would be better. He wanted to do certain things with the ball. We both felt that, in the position he was in, it wasn’t going to work as well. Through basic conversation, as the days went on, he got taller and taller in the cage."One day he said, ‘I want to do it tonight.’ I said, ‘Do it tonight? You can’t do it tonight. Let’s work on it a little bit.’ But he said, ‘I want to do it tonight.’ So I had to explain to (manager Robin Ventura), ‘He jumped the gun. This is what you’re going to see tonight.’ But it was a lot of fun.’" Terrerobytes Jerry Reinsdorf: Staying True - SportsBusiness Journal Closer look at Reinsdorf’s influence, achievements - SportsBusiness Journal Jerry Reinsdorf suggests selling Chicago White Sox in succession plans - ESPN Chicago Reinsdorf outlines future ownership plans for White Sox | CSN Chicago Jerry Reinsdorf received the SportsBusiness Journal/Daily Lifetime Achievement Award, which is as prestigious as its name is unwieldy. He's the first team owner to receive the honor, which is in its fourth year. You may have already seen the first link since Larry dropped it in the comments, but if you missed it, it's an excellent profile of how he's grown into a position of great influence in both Major League Baseball and the NBA. Since he's 77 and this is a lifetime achievement award, the focus naturally turns to what happens after. The rough plan is that Reinsdorf's son, Michael, will take over the Bulls while his family sells his share in the Sox, but that's subject to change. Reinsdorf plans to be around to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the All-Star Game, so that takes care of the next 19 years. As you were. Sox to have three managers in three days - ESPN Chicago It's graduation season, and Robin Ventura and Mark Parent will be stepping out in early June to attend ceremonies for their kids. That means the Sox will have three different skippers for their three-game series in Seattle. Parent will manage the first game and Ventura will return for the last, but since they'll both be out on June 3, it's unclear how the middle game will work: "We are still going over how we are going to do it on the third," Ventura said. "My first choice would be to have Joe (McEwing) do it, but he likes to coach third. We have Coop (pitching coach Don Cooper) who has done it. I am not going to have Joe manage and coach third base at the same time. We will figure

A foggy roster situation became even more obscured with the unwelcome news that Chris Sale won't make his start against Boston tonight due to tendinitis. It's being described as "mild," because Sale initially wanted to pitch through it: Sale said the issue flared up after Friday’s start against the Angels. In his past two starts, Sale has limited the Angels to four hits over 16 2/3 innings. He said he informed the White Sox he intended to pitch Wednesday but was convinced by team doctors to not. The plan calls for treatment the next few days and Sale expects to make his next start Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs."We collected as a group and sat in a meeting and the doctor explained to me that this is not going to happen," Sale said. "I just don’t like doing it. I want to be out there. I don’t want to put my job in other people’s hands. That’s not what I’m here to do. I’m here to do my job and make every start." While this is obviously bad news, it could be worse. The last time Sale reported non-major pain, they almost named him closer for the season. Hopefully this means Sale has learned how to disclose discomfort without scaring the staff. At the moment, we can count the lack of mishandled media mayhem as a good start. Other somewhat comforting signs under the circumstances: No. 1: Sale's velocity during his last start matched what it's been all season, with no strange drops or spikes to apply backwards. No. 2: It's good that he can be talked out of starting. He can learn a lot from Jake Peavy, but that kind of stubbornness is one lesson I'd like Sale to ignore. It still might be worse than the Sox are letting on, but there are no gaps in the story right now. The only loose end is the fact that Hector Santiago's rubber arm will be put to the test. Not only will he be starting on short rest, but he'll be pitching a day after throwing his bullpen: The left-hander threw 35-40 pitches and said he "kind of got after it" but expects no issues."It kind of sucks that I found out after I threw my bullpen today," Santiago said. "For the most part, I think I’ll be fine. I feel fine right now. I’ll wake up tomorrow and see how it feels." Santiago might be able to pull a magic five innings out of his backside, but it's good that the Sox secured the series on Tuesday night. Jesse Crain, Addison Reed and Matt Thornton have all pitched on consecutive nights, and Matt Lindstrom worked on Tuesday, too. That leaves Nate Jones, Brian Omogrosso and Donnie Veal in position to do some heavy lifting. At least there's an off day on Thursday. A lot of arms will be able to use it. The White Sox front office will welcome it, too, because there's a roster crunch about to happen. Pitching staff While the Sox haven't officially made the move on John Danks, it appears that they're set on having him open the Miami series on Friday. With Sale pushed back, Ventura will be able to delay deciding on which starter loses musical chairs, although Santiago will be hard-pressed to impress given the short-rest duress. Danks' return probably means one of Veal or Omogrosso will head back to Charlotte. If Santiago can't hold up and the Sox get blown out by Boston, you might be able to get a head start on figuring out the departing pitcher based on who has to eat up the most garbage time. That was Will Ohman's parting gift before his DFA last year, anyway. The battle between Santiago and Dylan Axelrod is the same as it's always been -- Santiago offers more upside while Axelrod's shown the steadier hand. Then again, Santiago has proven to be more versatile in the bullpen, which is a double-edged sword for his rotation career. If the Sox want to send back Veal but want two lefties, Santiago is the only way to go. The timing on that decision would be odd, because the events of the last couple weeks haven't demanded a second lefty. Thornton just emerged from a lull during which he threw only t

CHICAGO -- The news of Chris Sale having to miss a start did not shake up the Chicago White Sox, who have made a habit of competing shorthanded all season long. The injury hex started in spring training when it became apparent that rehabbing starter John Danks was not going to be ready in time to get big league hitters out. Danks, who is returning from shoulder surgery last summer, most likely will make his first start Friday against the Miami Marlins.

CHICAGO -- John Danks hasn’t pitched all season, Gavin Floyd was lost for the year and on Tuesday came the news that Chris Sale would skip a start because of shoulder soreness. Yet the Chicago White Sox's rotation keeps rolling right along, with left-hander Jose Quintana delivering the latest gem for a club that has disappointed in every department except when it comes to the starting staff. Quintana took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday before three consecutive singles chased him from the game.

The rule of thumb for Jose Quintana is confusing, but simple: He's allowed to throw shutout baseball as long as he doesn't complete seven innings -- otherwise, he stands no shot at getting the win (0-for-4 lifetime). He looked like he was going to challenge that curse when he took a no-hitter into the seventh. But David Ortiz broke it up with a one-out single, and two singles after that loaded the bases. With Quintana over 100 pitches and hitting the wall, Robin Ventura called for Jesse Crain. Crain struck out Will Middlebrooks with a 3-2 slider out of the zone for out No. 2. He only got to 2-2 with Stephen Drew before sitting him down with a changeup. That ended the threat, and sure enough, Quintana would emerge with the "W." It wouldn't be neat, of course. Matt Thornton started the eighth -- it should've been Crain, but I'm guessing Robin Ventura wanted to limit Crain's workload -- the way he started the seventh on Tuesday by allowing the first two batters to reach. This time it was a walk and a single, though, and those were the only two hitters he saw. Matt Lindstrom came in and stranded one of them, somehow. Lindstrom retired Mike Carp via a flyout, but in his battle with Dustin Pedroia, Tyler Flowers let a slider in the dirt get past him for a passed-ball-looking wild pitch, which took the double play out of order. That looked doubly unfortunate when Pedroia eventually hit a hard grounder right at Alexei Ramirez for what would've been a tailor-made 6-4-3 ball. As it turned out, it wasn't even a 6-3, because the ball ate up Ramirez and bounced into left field. The error allowed a run to score and putting runners on the corners for David Ortiz. Incredibly, the White Sox defense got another shot at turning two, and Paul Konerko started his second 3-6-3 in as many days to keep it a two-run ballgame. Credit Ramirez for getting the run back. He kept the bottom of the eighth alive with a two-out single, and sprinted the other 270 feet on Alex Rios' double to the left-center gap. That restored the two-run lead, and while the rain came pouring down afterward to cause concern of a stoppage, the White Sox closed it up in a businesslike fashion. Addison Reed put together a 1-2-3 save to give his Sox the series, which is important since Chris Sale will miss Wednesday's start. For the second straight game, the White Sox scored all their runs with two outs. Their first (and only other) attack came in the fifth in what had been a very quiet game. Dayan Viciedo reached on a chopper single under the glove of the diving Middlebrooks, which was only the second hit of the game against Felix Doubront. Keppinger made it a third, and it was a shocker -- a two-run shot to left, five rows deep, to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Tyler Flowers followed with a double, and those were the only four hits of the ballgame until the seventh. Quintana's established a swing-and-miss fastball early, and then got swings and misses on his slower stuff afterward. He issued a couple walks, but both came with two outs, and both were stranded. The only flaw in his start was that he could've been more efficient. That tenacious Boston lineup worked him over, even when they didn't get hits to show for it, and he ended up with 107 pitches by the time he departed after 6? innings. Thanks to a good-enough bullpen -- especially in the face of more questionable defense -- 6? innings was enough. Bullet points: Rios had alread extended his hitting streak to 16 games before coming to the plate in the eighth, so that RBI double was icing on the cake. Casper Wells, a defensive replacement for Viciedo, slipped on the drenched warning track while tracking Daniel Nava's deep fly, but still made the catch while sitting down. Record: 21-23 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights

Jeff Keppinger, yes, Jeff Keppinger, supplied all the offense the White Sox would need in support of Jose Quintana (Mike DiNovo, USA TODAY Sports). Jose Quintana no-hit the Red Sox through six and a third innings and led the White Sox to a 3-1 victory and series victory over Boston.  David Ortiz broke up the no-hitter with a broken bat single to center field, which was actually followed by two more hits from Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava to load the bases and knock Quintana out of the game. Jesse Crain inherited those three Boston base runners and promptly struck out Will Middlebrooks and Stephen Drew to escape the jam and end Quintana’s line without an earned run given up. Jeff Keppinger supplied all of the offense the White Sox needed with a two-run, two-out home run in the bottom of the fifth inning off of Red Sox starter Felix Doubront.  It was Keppinger’s first home run of the year. Boston mounted a threat in the eighth inning, when Matt Thornton allowed a dreaded leadoff walk and a single.  Matt Lindstrom came in and allowed a run to score, when Alexei Ramirez committed an error on a hard hit grounder by Dustin Pedroia.  But with the tying run on third base and only one out, Lindstrom induced an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play off of the bat of David Ortiz. The White Sox tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning and Addison Reed, amid a downpour of warm rain, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning 16th save of the year and second in as many days. Up Next: The White Sox go for the sweep on Wednesday night at 7:10 when Hector Santiago, who is filling in for Chris Sale (who was scratched with a sore left shoulder) takes on Boston ace Clay Buchholz.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox made it two consecutive wins over the Boston Red Sox with a 3-1 victory Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game series. How it happened: Jose Quintana took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before the bullpen took it the rest of the way. Quintana didn’t give up a hit until David Ortiz dunked a broken-bat blooper into centerfield with one out in the seventh. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases before reliever Jesse Crain struck out Will Middlebrooks and Stephen Drew to end the threat.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have had numerous great closers in their proud history and Addison Reed is doing his best to make his mark on the position. Reed has saved 15 of 16 opportunities in 2013 and has come through on 90 percent of his career save chances. The 24-year-old has had the good fortune of having some of the best pitching instructors in the game as a support system the last couple of seasons. “They all have been awesome and different in their own way,” Reed said Tuesday.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox will have the unique circumstance of three different men managing the team June 2-4 during a three-game series in Seattle. Manager Robin Ventura will miss the first two games of the trip for the graduation of his daughter in California. Bench coach Mark Parent will manage the first game Ventura misses on June 2. Parent will miss the second game on June 3 for his son’s high school graduation. “We are still going over how we are going to do it on the third,” Ventura said.

CHICAGO -- Left-hander Chris Sale will not make his scheduled start Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox because of a mild case of tendinitis in his left posterior shoulder, the Chicago White Sox announced Tuesday night. Hector Santiago will start in Sale's place, giving him one last chance to make a case for a rotation spot if John Danks returns, as expected, Friday. Read the entire story.