Gordon (No. 81 overall, Twins' No. 4) and Wade (Twins' No. 13) combined to go 7-for-12 (.583) with two homers and four RBIs over the two games.

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1 WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF APRIL 19, 2018 Wednesday's best: Twins duo comes up big William Boor, MLB.com Sox pitchers managing control, high walk counts Do-Hyoung Park, MLB.com Top prospect Jimenez to rejoin Double-A Do-Hyoung Park, MLB.com Moncada's 1st career slam highlights big effort. Do-Hyoung Park, MLB.com Despite offense's heavy lifting, White Sox fall Do-Hyoung Park, MLB.com Daily White Sox prospects update: Luis Alexander Basabe homered again and his slugging percentage is ridiculous Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago Eloy's comin'... to Birmingham: White Sox announce top prospect to join Double-A team Thursday Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago Some crazy stats from the White Sox-Athletics 14-inning game Paul Roumeliotis, NBC Sports Chicago White Sox lose to A's in 14-inning game that lasted 5 hours, 48 minutes the Sox's longest since 2006 John Hickey, Chicago Tribune White Sox rotation stumbling in early going of season John Hickey, Chicago Tribune Hey Carson Fulmer: Your White Sox career shouldn't resemble the Guaranteed Rate logo Steve Rosenbloom, Chicago Tribune White Sox manager Rick Renteria on the defensive could use pick-up himself Steve Greenberg, Chicago Sun Times By the Numbers: No talking to needed this time. Ricky's boys 'showed a lot of balls' in marathon loss James Fegan, The Athletic Eloy Jiménez returns and the White Sox rebuild is fun again James Fegan, The Athletic Wednesday's best: Twins duo comes up big By William Boor / MLB.com/ April 18, 2018 When things are going well offensively, more at-bats are certainly welcomed. That being the case, Wednesday's doubleheader came at a good time for Nick Gordon and LaMonte Wade as the duo helped lead Double-A Chattanooga to a pair of wins over Jacksonville. Gordon (No. 81 overall, Twins' No. 4) and Wade (Twins' No. 13) combined to go 7-for-12 (.583) with two homers and four RBIs over the two games. Gordon, who went 2-for-4 and 2-for-3, has been swinging a particuarily hot bat lately. The 22-year-old is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak and has two or more hits in five of his past seven games. Gordon also has a homer in two of his past three contests, including Game 2 of the doubleheader. Wade, who went deep in Game 1 and finished 2-for-3 and 1-for-2, is hitting.300 through 12 games this season and has multiple hits in three of his past five games. Other top prospect performances from Wednesday's action: No. 3 overall prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays' No. 1) bounced back from Tuesday's 0-for-5 effort with a 2-for-2 day at the plate. Guerrero singled in the first inning, drove in a run via a sacrifice fly in the third, was hit by a pitch in the sixth and capped his day with a double in the seventh.

2 No. 33 overall prospect Alex Verdugo (Dodgers' No. 2) is on an absolute tear with Triple-A Oklahoma City. After going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs against Round Rock, the 21-year-old outfielder is hitting.643 (9-for-14) with three homers and nine RBIs over his past five games. No. 57 overall prospect Jesus Sanchez (Rays' No. 4) put together his fourth straight multi-hit game and extended his hitting streak to six for Class A Advanced Charlotte. Sanchez, who is batting.370 through 12 games, went 4-for-5 with a homer -- his third in the past four games. No. 97 overall prospect Austin Riley (Braves' No. 8) pushed his average to.370 with his third straight multi-hit performance. Riley went 3-for-4 with a pair of triples and has nine extra-base hits in 13 games for Double-A Mississippi. No. 99 overall prospect Blake Rutherford (White Sox No. 7) and Micker Adolfo (White Sox No. 10) combined for six hits as Class A Advanced Winston-Salem cruised past Down East. Rutherford, who has hits in five straight, went 3-for-5 with three doubles, while Adolfo went 3-for-6 with two RBIs. Dodgers' No. 15 prospect Connor Wong hit his sixth homer of the season and turned in another two-hit game for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga. Wong, who finished 2-for-4, has multiple hits in four of his past five games and has raised his average from.250 to.364 in that span. Giants' No. 29 prospect Jordan Johnson extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings as he cruised through seven frames for Double-A Richmond. The right-hander, who picked up his second win of the season, threw 53 of his 76 pitches for strikes, gave up six hits and struck out five. Johnson also didn't issue a walk and has walked just one batter over his past two starts after giving out five free passes in his first outing. Mets prospects David Peterson (No. 2) and Quinn Brodey (No. 28) -- both members of the 2017 Draft class -- led Class A Columbia to a win over Greenville. Peterson, making his season debut, gave up one run on four hits over six innings, while Brodey extended his hitting streak to seven games with his first career two-homer effort. Brodey, who hit three homers in 63 games last season, went deep in both the eighth and ninth innings, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Rangers prospects Pedro Gonzalez (No. 10) and Anderson Tejeda (No. 12) each homered as part of multi-hit efforts for Class A Hickory and Class A Advanced Down East, respectively. Gonzalez hit his second homer of the season, a two-run blast, in the fifth to highlight a 2-for-3, two-rbi day. Tejeda, who also went 2-for-3, hit a three-run homer off of Dylan Cease (No. 61 overall, White Sox No. 5). Rays No. 28 prospect Resly Linares was nearly perfect in his second start for Class A Bowling Green. The 20-year-old lefty gave up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings in his first outing of the season, but this time around he threw 52 of his 85 pitches for strikes, struck out seven and allowed just two baserunners -- via a hit batter and an error -- over seven scoreless frames. Yankees prospects Thairo Estrada (No. 10) and Trevor Stephan (No. 15) did their part as Class A Advanced Tampa routed Daytona, Estrada, who was making his season debut after recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in the offseason, wasted no time getting back into the swing of things. The 22-year-old doubled in his first at-bat on his way to a 3-for-5 game. Stephan strung together six zeros for the second straight start, lowering his ERA to The right-hander walked two, gave up a pair of hits and struck out eight, bringing his season total to 22 punchouts through 16 innings. Sox pitchers managing control, high walk counts By Do-Hyoung Park /MLB.com / April 18, 2018 OAKLAND -- Chicago's young starting rotation is still a work in progress, but there have been some promising hints of consistency from the White Sox starters in the early going.

3 The Sox have gotten at least five innings from their starter in 11 of their 14 games, and in nine of those outings, their starter yielded three or fewer earned runs. With that said, and small sample sizes notwithstanding, the next step for this rotation looks to be cutting down on walks -- Sox starters lead the American League with 43 free passes -- and working deeper into ballgames. "We've done a really good job of minimizing the damage with our walks, no doubt, but at the end of the day, we definitely need to minimize our walks and control that a little bit and focus on staying more aggressive," right-hander James Shields said. The Sox particularly struggled with control in their last trip through the rotation. Shields and Lucas Giolito issued five walks apiece in their last starts, while Reynaldo Lopez issued four walks on Monday despite striking out 10. Wednesday's starter, Carson Fulmer, also walked six in his previous outing. Manager Rick Renteria believes that the early control issues are both mechanical and mental to a certain extent. For instance, Renteria and the Sox pitching coaches have sometimes noted poor angles to the plate in their pitchers' deliveries when reviewing film. But Renteria also thinks that part of the problem stems from a lack of trust in throwing certain pitches for strikes, which he believes will improve as his starters gain experience and confidence throughout the season. "There's a lot of discovery going on, and that will continue," Renteria said. "That's kind of never-ending." That hasn't necessarily just applied to the younger starters, either. After a three-inning start Tuesday in which he allowed eight earned runs, veteran right-hander Miguel Gonzalez noted that he didn't have a good feel for his fastball and had to rely more on his offspeed pitches as a result. Factors such as cold weather and an inconsistent schedule marred by weather-related cancellations certainly haven't helped, either, so the Sox, as they continue to make adjustments and seek consistency as a team, aren't yet too worried about the trend. "We don't really put too much emphasis on the first couple of starts of the season," Shields said. "When we have a bigger sample midseason, I think that would be a better question to ask, but again, we're going to try our best not to walk guys, and that's what our job is." Top prospect Jimenez to rejoin Double-A By Do-Hyoung Park /MLB.com/ April 18, 2018 OAKLAND -- The White Sox announced Wednesday that outfielder Eloy Jimenez, the No. 4 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline and the top prospect in the White Sox system, will rejoin Double-A Birmingham on Thursday. Jimenez had started the Minor League season on the 7-day disabled list after sustaining a mild strain to his left pectoral muscle during extended spring training. View Full Game Coverage "Everybody is excited," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "When guys are healthy and able to get on the field and start to play, there are going to be a lot of guys down there that are continuing their development. Obviously, we'll monitor and watch, and as an organization, we're always happy when any of our guys are able to get on the field."

4 The 21-year-old participated in Spring Training with the White Sox but saw limited action due to soreness in his knee. He was 4-for-7 with a triple and two homers in four spring games before being optioned to Birmingham. Jimenez, who was one of the major pieces in the deal that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs, slashed.353/.397/.559 with three homers, five doubles and seven RBIs in 18 games with Birmingham last season following an Aug. 15 promotion. Moncada's 1st career slam highlights big effort By Do-Hyoung Park /MLB.com/ April 18, 2018 OAKLAND -- No need to worry -- it looks like Yoan Moncada is back. After a weeks-long slump to begin the 2018 campaign, the tools that once made Moncada the No. 1 prospect in baseball were on full display on Wednesday. The 22-year-old hit his first career grand slam for his second homer in as many days, reached base three times for the second consecutive day and added two sparkling defensive plays in the White Sox loss to the A's in 14 innings. Moncada's blast came on a 1-0 fastball off A's right-hander Andrew Triggs and traveled a Statcastestimated 395 feet with an exit velocity of 109 mph. The slam punctuated a five-run second inning for the struggling White Sox offense, which had entered the game 5-for-62 (.081) with runners in scoring position in its last eight games. He had also hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning on Tuesday to account for Chicago's only runs. "I just went into the at-bat with a goal in my mind just to hit the ball hard," Moncada said through an interpreter. "I wasn't expecting any pitch -- I just went into it with the idea to hit the ball hard." For the third straight game, Moncada gave the Sox an early opportunity to break through when he singled to lead off the contest and stole second. He moved to third on a flyout to right, and Chicago was finally able to cash in, as Moncada scored on Nicky Delmonico's two-out single. It was Chicago's first runscoring hit with a man in scoring position since April 10. Entering Tuesday, Moncada had been 1-for-11 with eight strikeouts in the three previous games and was slashing.192/.300/.308 on the season. "It was good for us as a team, because with the hit, we scored first," Moncada said. "We were able to get the chance to command the game, and as a team, that's what you want." Moncada also made his impact felt on defense, flashing the leather in a critical situation in the ninth that saved the game for the White Sox. With the game tied, 11-11, and the bases loaded for the A's, Chad Pinder hit a sharp ground ball toward the hole between first and second. Moncada ranged to his left, dove for the ball, and fired to first for the out, preserving the tie and sending the game to extra innings. "When I saw the ground ball coming to my field, I said, 'OK, I have to stop it,'" Moncada said. "So I ran as hard as I could, and I was able to cut the ball off and make the play. The difference between that moment and the home run was that the home run was just focusing on hitting the ball hard. [The grand slam] wasn't a do-or-die situation like it was in the ninth inning." One inning later, Moncada showed off his range when he covered a Statcast-estimated 89 feet to make an over-the-shoulder catch sprinting away from the infield on a popup hit into shallow right field by Jed Lowrie.

5 Despite offense's heavy lifting, White Sox fall By Do-Hyoung Park /MLB.com/ April 18, 2018 OAKLAND -- On Tuesday, with his offense firmly mired in a slump, White Sox manager Rick Renteria likened his mindset to that of a prize fighter -- just trying to win each inning, one "round" at a time. Little did he know then how apt that analogy would prove for Wednesday's grueling, back-and-forth marathon that lasted five hours and 48 minutes. The long-awaited breakout for the Chicago lineup finally came, but the White Sox and A's traded hits for nine innings -- whenever each team took a lead, the other club had an answer. And because nine innings of free baseball in Oakland on Tuesday apparently wasn't enough, it took 14 innings before James Shields yielded a walk-off single to Matt Olson as the Sox lost, 12-11, bringing an end to a winless road trip. "I don't want them to be down about this game today," Renteria said. "I want them to actually have a lot more positives to take away from it and build on it and see that they can be focused and relaxed at the same time and give themselves opportunities. It kind of steamrolls, hopefully we're now out of a little rut, if you might call it that, and we're moving forward." A resurgent Yoan Moncada starred in the loss for the White Sox, hitting the first grand slam of his career in the second inning and reaching base three times for the second consecutive game. He also added two sparkling defensive plays in the field, featuring a running, over-the-shoulder catch in the 10th and a diving play in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded that preserved the tie and sent the game into extra innings. The A's seemed as if they had cast the knockout blow with a two-out, go-ahead three-run homer by Jed Lowrie in the bottom of the eighth, giving them an lead. But with Chicago on the ropes in the top of the ninth, Welington Castillo's two-out double was followed by a game-tying single from Tim Anderson, and the teams battled on. "When we tied the game, we were very excited," Moncada said through an interpreter. "It was a very good moment for us. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, when we had the opportunity to shut them down with the bases loaded, that was huge for us. It was a big burst of energy for us. We tried to keep that moving forward, and I think we did that in a good way until the 14th." Renteria had been adamant that the hits would eventually start falling for his struggling offense, and those words quickly rang true on Wednesday, as early RBI singles from Nicky Delmonico and Adam Engel were followed by Moncada's slam to spot the White Sox a 6-1 lead after two innings. That was already Chicago's largest offensive output since April 5, and the Sox kept adding on, finishing the game with 11 runs on 17 hits, surpassing their scoring output from their last five games combined. Jose Abreu and Delmonico each had three hits, a season-high for Delmonico. But after the Sox scored five in the second, the A's answered with three in the bottom of the frame. Chicago put up a three-spot in the fourth, but Oakland came through with four more of its own. "That's the sign of a true fight," Renteria said. "You're battling. You're not giving up. It's a relentless effort to continue to try to win every inning. Again, we took it down to the wire, and we didn't come out ahead this time, but I think you see the guys waking up a bit." With an off-day to regroup and a much-needed return to Chicago in store, Renteria feels encouraged about his team's immediate future. "It's a long season, and I hope that today marks the beginning of a little bit of a turn," Renteria said. "Not that this will not happen again, but as long as we keep moving forward in terms of our approaches, how confident we might be, giving ourselves a chance, we'll be OK."

6 MOMENTS THAT MATTERED After the Sox tied the game with Anderson's two-out heroics in the top of the frame, the A's loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on three walks by reliever Nate Jones. With two outs, Chad Pinder hit a sharp grounder towards the gap between first and second, but Moncada ranged to his left, snared the ball on a dive, and made the throw to first to preserve the tie and send the game to extra innings. "When I saw the ground ball coming to my field, I said, 'OK, I have to stop it,'" Moncada said. "So I ran as hard as I could, and I was able to cut the ball off and make the play. The difference between that moment and the home run was that the home run was just focusing on hitting the ball hard. It wasn't a do-or-die situation like it was in the ninth inning." In each of the first two games of the series, Moncada reached base to lead off the game and stole second. Both times, he was left stranded at third as Chicago's situational hitting woes continued. On Wednesday, he repeated the feat again, singling up the middle and stealing second, and moved to third on a flyout by Abreu. And in a sign of things to come, the White Sox were finally able to cash in, with Delmonico's two-out RBI single up the middle, bringing Moncada home for Chicago's first run-scoring hit with a man in scoring position since April 10. "It was good for us as a team, because with the hit, we scored first," Moncada said. "We were able to get the chance to command the game, and as a team, that's what you want." The Sox finished Wednesday 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position. In their previous eight games, they had been just 5-for-62 in such situations. SHIELDS MAKES FIRST RELIEF APPEARANCE SINCE 2010 Just about the only thing that didn't happen in Wednesday's game was a position player pitching. With the White Sox out of relievers and Bruce Rondon's pitch count soaring to 47 in three innings of relief, both Shields and Lucas Giolito went to the clubhouse to retrieve their cleats. Ultimately, the Sox asked Shields to make the second relief appearance of his career, and the first since June 9, 2010 against the then-florida Marlins. "They asked me if I could pitch, and I was ready to rock and roll," Shields said. "I didn't get the job done today." SOUND SMART The final game time of five hours and 48 minutes was the longest for the Sox since a six-hour, 19-minute game on July 9, 2006 against the Red Sox that was decided in 19 innings. It was also the third-longest game in A's history. The longest game the White Sox played in 2017 was four hours, 10 minutes. Wednesday's game almost surpassed that through just nine innings, with the clock sitting at the four hour, seven minute mark with the game tied following the bottom of the ninth. HE SAID IT "I'm not as frustrated as you might think. I'm proud of how they continued to play the whole game," -- Renteria MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY The A's trailed, 6-3, and had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the second when Lowrie grounded to Anderson. The White Sox shortstop quickly relayed to second baseman Moncada, who fired to first baseman Matt Davidson for what appeared to be an inning-ending double play. After further review, however, Lowrie was called safe at first to extend the inning. Lowrie's hustle down the line plated

7 another run for Oakland -- one that proved to be instrumental later on in sending the game to extra innings. UP NEXT The Sox have an off-day Thursday (this one is scheduled, not weather-related) before opening a sixgame homestand on Friday night against the defending world champion Astros. Shields was scheduled to take the mound for Chicago against Justin Verlander, but the team will use Thursday's off day to reevaluate their pitching schedule. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. CT at Guaranteed Rate Field. Daily White Sox prospects update: Luis Alexander Basabe homered again and his slugging percentage is ridiculous By Vinny Duber/ NBC Sports Chicago / April 18, 2018 Class A Winston-Salem Luis Alexander Basabe hit his second home run of the season Tuesday, upping his ridiculous slugging percentage to.627. For comparison purposes, only seven big leaguers have a higher slugging percentage so far this season. All in all, Basabe is slashing.353/.411/.627. Blake Rutherford also had a double and an RBI in Winston-Salem's 5-4 loss. Triple-A Charlotte Daniel Palka had two hits and an RBI in Charlotte's 5-3 win. Palka is batting.295 on the season. He could be an interesting name to remember in case the White Sox need a fill-in outfielder at the big league level now that Ryan Cordell is set to miss at least eight weeks of action. Double-A Birmingham Zack Collins walked three times in Birmingham's 4-3 loss. Seby Zavala had a hit and a walk. Class A Kannapolis Luis Gonzalez hit his second home run of 2018 in Kannapolis' 6-5 loss. Evan Skoug had a hit and a walk. The A s are trying something that is unusual, to say the least, for Tuesday s game against the White Sox. All tickets are free. Parking also is free, but the concessions aren t. The free seats, part of a season-long half-century celebration of the club s 1968 move from Kansas City to Oakland, is expected to produce the biggest crowd of the year. As part of the evening s events, the A s and Sox will be wearing 1968-style uniforms. Even some of the shoe companies are getting involved. Tuesday night s Sox starter, Miguel Gonzalez, says he can t wait to take the field in his new Nike shoes, black with a light textured sole. The White Sox uniforms are baby blue, and as designated-hitter Matt Davidson said, everybody s excited about wearing them, and playing in front of a big crowd. Weather breaking: Things were looking a little bleak for the Sox when they woke up Monday in Oakland after having been snowed out for the final three games of their four-game set against the Twins in Minnesota. Thus the sight and sound of hail coming down in the Bay Area didn t auger good things. But the downpour, while heavy, cleared up by early afternoon and, as manager Rick Renteria said, I think the guys are ready to get out there again and get some dirt under their feet.

8 Davidson said the sight of rain didn t do much to cheer him up, but the thought of getting on the field again was a major boost to athletes eager to ply their avocation. It was raining a little bit, and it was cold, Davidson said. We re probably bringing the weather with us. It s not warm, but it s like summertime compared to what we were in. We re excited to play. We re ready for it to warm up. Davidson had family in Minneapolis, but with a 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, having time off because of snow was something less than optimum. My daughter was OK with it, but for my son, it was a little too much for him, Davidson said of the winter break in Minneapolis. It was so cold. You d walk outside and your hands would be freezing within five minutes. Top spot: Yoan Moncada doesn t have much to show for his move to the leadoff spot in the White Sox lineup a slash line of.183/.298/.306. That level of non-production can t go on indefinitely, but Renteria doesn t seem overly concerned, and Moncada was back at the top of the lineup and at second base again Monday and singled on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. I don t have a whole lot of history to be able to tell you that I m concerned with where he s at leading off, the manager said. He s showing some signs of positive and some of negative. I have to let it play itself out to get a feel for it. Castillo back: Catcher Welington Castillo was able to make more use of the snow days than just about any of the Sox. He was dealing with some knee pain but was back in the lineup Monday. Renteria said Castillo had no limitations. The manager talked with him this morning and I spoke to him last night after the flight, and he s ready to go. Castillo was winged by a backswing from A's Khris Davis with two outs in the first inning Monday but stayed in game after being checked out. Smith rehab: Renteria said there are no plans to carry Kevan Smith (sprained left ankle) as a third catcher, at least now. He had been working out in Arizona after starting the season on the 10-day disabled list and just got through a nine-inning game for the first time late last week. Rather than bringing him up, the Sox have opted to have Smith, who played in 87 games for the Sox last year, go to Triple-A Charlotte on a minor-league rehab assignment. Eloy's comin'... to Birmingham: White Sox announce top prospect to join Double-A team Thursday By Vinny Duber/ NBC Sports Chicago / April 18, 2018 Eloy's comin'... to Birmingham. The White Sox top-ranked prospect will finally see regular-season game action in 2018, with the team announcing Wednesday that Eloy Jimenez will join Double-A Birmingham on Thursday. There's a ton of excitement over the White Sox impressive collection of young players, but perhaps no prospect has generated the kind of buzz Jimenez has since coming over from the Cubs in last summer's crosstown trade. No one, though, has been able to see much of Jimenez during this calendar year. Sidelined for a couple weeks during spring training, he only got seven Cactus League at-bats, but he impressed in that short period of time, hitting two home runs and a triple. Then, just before the season started, he suffered a slight injury to his pectoral muscle that he's been working back from since, keeping him out of minor league action.

9 Jimenez, ranked as the No. 4 prospect in baseball, has hit 43 home runs in four minor league seasons. Before coming over from the Cubs last summer, he hit eight homers in 42 games with Class A Myrtle Beach. He then hit eight more in 29 games with Class A Winston-Salem and three in 18 games with Birmingham. When Jimenez will reach the South Side is one of the biggest talking points surrounding the White Sox rebuild. But he's got just those 18 games under his belt at the Double-A level, and there's no reason to rush him while the rebuilding White Sox aren't expected to contend for a championship this season. General manager Rick Hahn said multiple times this offseason that a good developmental season for Jimenez could involve him staying in the minor leagues all year. But Jimenez has also repeatedly talked about being ready for the majors. And if he tears up Double-A and Triple-A the way many White Sox fans expect him to, his big league arrival might not be too far off. Tim will tell, and that time starts Thursday. Some crazy stats from the White Sox-Athletics 14-inning game By Paul Roumeliotis / NBC Sports Chicago / April 18, 2018 Jose Abreu poked his head in through the door of manager Rick Renteria s office in the visiting clubhouse early Tuesday afternoon just to talk. Abreu had made a bad defensive play at first base Monday night in the White Sox s 8-1 loss to the A s and that combination had him down. He had homered in the ninth inning for the Sox s only run but that blow didn t ease the sting. That tells you that you don t relent or stop fighting, Renteria said. He said it was kind of tough to celebrate a homer like that when you re down. I told him, Let me tell you something. It s not necessarily the homer that you celebrate, it s the fact that you kept fighting. You celebrate that because everybody has to watch that. Even so, the Sox s overall poor play 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and four errors on defense made the homer, his fourth of the season, difficult for Abreu to enjoy. But he tried. For me and for the team it wasn t a good game, Abreu said through a translator. Even though I had the opportunity to hit the ball hard and hit that homer, I didn t celebrate. I didn t feel in the mood. For me, I take a lot of pride in winning and being part of the team. I m not going to put myself ahead of the team. Even though the situation right now for us isn t good, we still keep trying. We are trying to figure it out and find a way to move forward as a team, as a group. And as a team, you have to be proud of that because we are not quitting. We are still fighting. Castillo sits: Catcher Welington Castillo wasn t in the lineup Tuesday, but Renteria said that wasn t because he had been winged on a Khris Davis swing in the first inning Monday. Castillo said he momentarily had felt dizzy, but he remained in the game. Renteria said Castillo could have played, but he opted for Omar Narvaez. We have an afternoon game (Wednesday), the manager said. I was debating a couple of things: Do I not catch him and have him catch tomorrow? But I thought, to be honest, to give Narvy an opportunity tonight and have Wellie catch (Carson) Fulmer tomorrow and have a day off the next day. It would give Wellie a day to recover. I want to do the best I can to keep both guys fresh, Wellie in particular. Yes, he took a pretty good jolt, but that had nothing to do with the lineup today. Apparently Castillo made a good plea to remain in the game Monday when Renteria and trainer Herm Schneider came to examine him.

10 I asked him How many Hermies do you see? Renteria said. He said one, so he was OK. Cordell out for months: The White Sox were disheartened to learn Triple-A Charlotte outfielder Ryan Cordell figures to be out a minimum of a couple of months because of a fractured right clavicle suffered Monday night. We re wishing him well, Renteria said. We re hoping he ll recover properly, but we can t speed up the process.. The Sox picked up Cordell from the Brewers last July 26 in exchange for pitcher Anthony Swarzak. Happy anniversary: Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio made his major-league debut with the Sox on April 17, Also debuting were outfielder Frank Robinson of the Reds and pitcher Don Drysdale of the Dodgers. It marked the first time three future Hall of Famers started their big-league careers on the same day. White Sox lose to A's in 14-inning game that lasted 5 hours, 48 minutes the Sox's longest since 2006 By John Hickey / Chicago Tribune / April 18, 2018 Considering his team lost to the A s in 14 innings over the span of 5 hours, 48 minutes, White Sox manager Rick Renteria was almost happy. I m not as frustrated as you might think from this game because my guys showed a lot of (guts) today, Renteria said. Obviously it didn t turn out the way we wanted, but we kept chipping away.... They re going to end up winning more games because of the way they went about their business today in the long run than they might imagine. With his entire bullpen spent and the game tied through 13 innings, Renteria asked James Shields, who was scheduled to start Friday s game in Chicago against the Astros, if he could take the mound. Shields never blinked. They asked. I was ready. I felt fine, Shields said. This is a tough loss. I have to get the job done, and I didn t. He did get two quick outs, but Marcus Semien slapped a single to left, then stole second. Pitching carefully to the middle of the order, Shields walked Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis, loading the bases only to have Matt Olson drive a knuckle-curve off the left-field wall for a game-winning single that completed a three-game sweep. Between them the Sox and the A s threw 556 pitches, and both sides had plenty to be happy about in a game that boasted 23 runs and 33 hits. The Sox got off to a 6-1 start largely on the bat of Yoan Moncada, whose second-inning grand slam was the big blow in a five-run inning. After the A s scored three runs in the eighth, the Sox bullpen tightened with Nate Jones, Joakim Soria and Bruce Rondon combining to throw 51/3 scoreless innings. Rondon never had gotten more than six outs in a big-league game. This time he got nine, but he was done. And with starter Carson Fulmer having lasted just three outs himself while allowing four runs, the eight men manning the bullpen had all been used. Enter Shields. These guys fought hard the entire game, Shields said. They showed a lot of heart and character. Unfortunately we came out on the other side. They asked, and I was ready to rock and roll. I didn t get the job done, though.

11 The trip will go down as 0-4 for the Sox, who had three scheduled games in Minnesota postponed by snow. They head home with a 4-11 record for the first 15 games. Renteria said he was going to need more time to consume Wednesday s finale. We had a lot of moral victories, he said. A ton. Extra innings: Top Sox prospect Eloy Jimenez will be joining Double-A Birmingham s roster for Thursday s game. The outfielder had been in extended spring training after experiencing a mild strain of his left pectoral muscle in late March.... Moncada is the fifth-youngest (22 years, 326 days) White Sox hitter with a grand slam. Those younger on the list are Johnny Callison in 1959, Kevin Bell in 1976, Carlos May in 1969 and Bibb Falk in Moncada s four RBI are a career high.... Fulmer s one-inning start was the second-shortest of his career. He retired just one batter on Sept. 21, 2017 at Houston.... Yolmer Sanchez broke his bat over his knee in frustration after the third baseman led off the sixth inning by striking out.... Chris Volstad s contribution out of the bullpen was huge. After the A s scored eight runs in 3 2/3 innings, Volstad stopped the bleeding with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.... The Sox s five stolen bases were the most for them since they had six on Sept. 5, 2010 at Boston. White Sox rotation stumbling in early going of season By John Hickey / Chicago Tribune / April 18, 2018 Just 15 games into the 162-game season, the White Sox have issues with their starting pitching.their starters share a 1-8 record with a 5.47 ERA. It s the pitching equivalent of living through a root canal. James Shields, the starter who has the sole victory, was scheduled to go against the World Series champion Astros on Friday at Guaranteed Rate Park. But after he took the loss pitching 2/3rds of an innings in relief in Wednesday night s 12-11, 14-inning loss to the A s in Oakland, he may be pushed back to Saturday with Lucas Giolito moved up a day. Manager Rick Renteria said the Sox would wait to see how Shields feels and won t rush into making a decision. For his part, Shields declared Wednesday night, I can go; I ll do whatever they want. Shields, 36, is by far the most accomplished starter in a rotation that includes two 24-year-olds, Reynaldo Lopez and Carson Fulmer, the 23-year-old Giolito and 33-year-old veteran journeyman Miguel Gonzalez. The starters numbers aren t much to look out, especially after Gonzalez allowed eight runs in 3-plus innings Tuesday and Fulmer lasted just one inning while giving up four runs Wednesday. That being said, Shields says the long-term prognosis for the group is good. Top to bottom, there is a lot of talent, a lot of young talent, Shields said in assessing the potential of the staff. These are guys who really work hard. It s going to be fun to watch this group of guys over the next few years. I like their work ethic and their attitude is what impresses me the most. At the end of the day, that s where it all starts, with the self-discipline you have and how hard you work between starts. And all these guys are great. Renteria is counting on Shields to play a leadership role with the young starters, and Shields, who didn t have that coming up as part of a young staff with the Rays a decade ago, is more than happy to oblige. Obviously I have a lot of experience and I m doing as much as I can to help these guys out, Shields said about taking on a leadership role. I m here for them and whatever they need. I m here to help them out. We re here to do this together.

12 Renteria says that the young lions have to learn from each other in addition to leaning on Shields. When you think of it, Fulmer, Lopez and Giolito are all breaking in together, Renteria said. They are sharing their personal experiences through the success or failure of their outings. It s important because they are all kind of on the same timeline right now, experiencing things at the major-league level for the first time. It goes back to one thing. This is a very difficult sport to compete at at the highest level because everybody is so skilled. They continue to encourage each other to do what they do best, which is to take care of their particular slice of the pie. They are trying to fathom that and deal with the good and the bad. At Triple A, a pitcher is honing his skills. But there is no substitute for being here and competing here. It s a different beast. Extra innings: You can look for the Sox, who stole five bases Wednesday, to be on the run more. Renteria likes his team to be on the move, but says his players have to be smart about picking their spots. Yoan Moncada stole one base in each of the games against the A s, his first thefts of the year. He has been wanting to run, and he credits improved habits in the batter s box for the turnaround. He came into the A s series with a slash line of.184/.298/.306 and came out of it with one of.222/.329/.429. I m seeing the ball and recognizing pitches much better, Moncada said through an interpreter. That ll help me get over this (slow start). Getting just his second start of the season in the cleanup spot, Nicky Delmonico had three hits and an RBI Wednesday. He could get more time in the No. 4 slot. He actually had more starts (22) batting cleanup than anywhere else last year. Hey Carson Fulmer: Your White Sox career shouldn't resemble the Guaranteed Rate logo By Steve Rosenbloom/ Chicago Tribune / April 19, 2018 It s not that the White Sox are losing, it s who s doing the losing. In Carson Fulmer s case, it s who s doing the stinking. The inept and inert Sox handed Fulmer an unimaginable 6-1 lead after 1 ½ innings in Oakland on Wednesday afternoon, but the right-hander couldn t get an out in the bottom of the second inning. Couldn t get one stinkin out, in fact, when his job was reduced to simply throwing strikes, letting his fielders get outs and moving things along. This was a big opportunity for a big question mark in the Sox s rebuilding. They had lost three in a row. They had given up 22 runs in those games. They had scored only three runs during that slide. And here they were, handing Fulmer a five-run lead. This was a chance for Fulmer to say, I can be a stopper. Instead, Fulmer s message pretty much said, Stop me before I pitch again. Fulmer was yanked after giving up a leadoff homer and then loading the bases with none out. With a fiverun lead. Did I mention the Sox gave the guy a five-run lead? Yeah, a five-run lead. Fulmer would allow four earned runs while throwing strikes on just 21 of his 46 pitches. He became a hood ornament for the aggravating, mind-numbing, inexplicable and totally understandable loss in 14 innings. In his last two starts, Fulmer has thrown 5 2/3 innings combined and allowed 13 earned runs on 10 hits and eight walks for an ERA of better sit down for this It s one thing if Miguel Gonzalez or James Shields stinks. They re 33 and 36, respectively, and won t be around when the Sox become a contender again, and the Sox will become a contender, trust me, because there s a lot of talent in the system and a lot of smarts in the front office. Which makes Fulmer s arc confounding, although it hasn t been an arc as much as it has mimicked the Guaranteed Rate logo.

13 Fulmer came out of Vanderbilt as a highly rated first-round pick in He came up in the middle of 2017, pitching out of the bullpen and delivering the ups and downs that go along with being a rookie. Fulmer gave the organization some hope last September when he posted a 1.56 ERA over his last four starts. But then, he almost didn t make the rotation this spring, and we re seeing why. What s surprising is that pitching is what the Sox do well when it comes to drafting and development. They are still doing it in the minors with a motherlode that includes Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning and, swoon, Michael Kopech. They are also doing it in the majors with Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito. They are just not doing it with Fulmer. He has arguably the best pitching coach in baseball, but he seems to have one of the worst futures. Because the Sox aren t averse to losing at this point in their rebuilding, they have the luxury, such as it is, of continuing to send Fulmer out there to suffer self-inflicted wounds. Maybe he figures it out and has a career. Maybe the Sox figure out his career is in the bullpen and no better than mop-up right now. The Sox are looking for pitchers. They have enough placeholders. Fulmer should be demanding a spot in the rotation when the Sox are telling everybody it s all you can eat. Instead, he is pitching badly on a team buried with a 5.59 starters ERA that is tied for the worst in the majors. That should tell you something. That should tell Fulmer something about his season and maybe his future. That s bad, and hopeless is waiting in the on-deck circle. White Sox manager Rick Renteria on the defensive could use pick-up himself By Steve Greenberg/ Chicago Sun Times / April 19, 2018 OAKLAND As the White Sox stumbled and staggered through a partially frozen, entirely winless road trip through Minneapolis and Oakland that left them at 4-11 their worst record through 15 games in 21 seasons manager Rick Renteria preached a consistent message to his coaches: Hey, let s keep picking these guys up. Positive reinforcement can only help a team whose starting pitching has been a woolly adventure, whose bullpen has few definitive answers and whose lineup has failed to come through at the plate in one clutch situation after another. In many respects, these are the Sox we expected. They are, after all, young and rebuilding. And this is the job Renteria signed up for, to steer the ship through unfriendly waters until a beacon of light guides it toward a future of real promise. Renteria leans on a similar metaphor. There are times when maybe we can grow frustrated as a team, the players, whatever the situations might be, but we have to remain positive, he said. Whether you re a veteran or a rookie, you go through these moments. Try not to let the frustration get to you. Know that there s a light at the end of the tunnel, but you have to know how to get to the end of the tunnel. And that s usually through routine and work. But holding steady despite a run of negative results none worse than the last game in Oakland, when the Sox blew a 9-4 lead and lost in 14 innings is a challenge for all involved. That includes the 56-yearold, ever-smiling manager, who has, intentionally or not, gone on the defensive. Rarely one to talk about himself, Renteria has kept his public focus on his players, accentuating the positive wherever possible. Yet he repeatedly has attempted to head off criticism of his team at the pass three times in Oakland alone, unprompted by any whiff of an attack from the media.

14 I ll defend every single one of my guys in that [locker] room, he said after the first of three losses to the A s, an 8-1 game in which the Sox committed four errors. But today wasn t a pretty game. Twenty-four hours later, after the Sox lost 10-2, he doubled down. I ll take every single one of those guys in that room right now, every single day, win, lose or draw. We ll fix what needs to be fixed. And then came Wednesday, a game the Sox were in prime position to win after Yoan Moncada s grand slam gave them an early 6-1 lead. After nearly six hours of baseball and the awkwardness of watching 36-year-old James Shields surrender the walk-off hit in only the second relief appearance of his career Renteria was agitated and then some. You can bleep it, he said, leaning forward in his chair in the visiting manager s office for emphasis, but my [expletive] guys showed a lot of balls today in this loss. And now the whole gang is back home for three games, starting Friday, against the defending world champion Astros. After that is a three-game set against the Mariners. Combined, the teams are compared with the Sox, certainly living the good life. Who says there s no pressure on the Sox in a season when they were widely pegged for last place in the A.L. Central? And who says there s no pressure on Renteria? There s bad, and then there s awkwardly bad and we don t know yet which box these Sox are going to fit into. There s also the chance they ll be surprisingly good, or at least pleasantly OK. As Renteria repeats on a daily basis, it s still very early. But the tension is mounting. By the Numbers: No talking to needed this time. Ricky's boys 'showed a lot of balls' in marathon loss By James Fegan/ The Athletic / April 19, 2018 OAKLAND, Calif. At least it will be easier to find positives after this one. After 14 innings and nearly six hours of baseball in Oakland in a Wednesday afternoon getaway day turned nightcap, just about every storyline of the White Sox's difficult start to the season could be found, even a Yoán Moncada turnaround, just not a victory. The second relief appearance of James Shields' long and venerable career ended with a Matt Olson walk-off single to give the A's a win. But Shields' impromptu effort could hardly be seen as the big disappointment on a day the Sox (4-11) led 6-1 and 8-4 at different intervals, and broke free of their woes with runners in scoring position as Tim Anderson smacked a two-out, game-tying single in the ninth and Moncada launch the first grand slam of his career. You can bleep it, but my fucking guys showed a lot of balls today in this loss manager Rick Renteria said. They're going to end up winning more games because of the way they went about their business today in the long run than they might imagine. Moncada's booming grand slam keyed a five-run second inning, and he scored three times in addition to making a game-saving diving stop of a hot grounder at second with the bases loaded and the score tied in the ninth. But despite nearly a full game (8 2/3 innings, one earned run) of excellent relief from the

15 unlikely trio of Héctor Santiago, Chris Volstad and Bruce Rondón, the Sox could not avoid spurning their best offensive performance since Opening Day. Carson Fulmer's most erratic start of the season, Aaron Bummer's three runs in a third of an inning, and Jed Lowrie's two-run go-ahead blast off Luis Avilán in the eighth stung the most on a difficult day to pitch for pretty much everyone. 288: Pitches thrown by the Sox over the course of the afternoon, from nine different pitchers, including absolutely everyone in the bullpen and two members of the starting rotation. Just 156 of those offerings were strikes, leading to a season-high 12 walks, in what was the longest White Sox game (five hours and 48 minutes) in 12 years. 114 wrc+: Moncada's season batting line went from garish to solidly above average over the course of three days in Oakland as he smacked five hits, two homers, drew two walks and stole three bases. Those offensive numbers go alongside a pair of standout defensive plays Wednesday, as he added a running over-the-shoulder grab in shallow right to his diving stop. That's a pretty great series, but perhaps the biggest factor in his rapid ascent is that the White Sox have played all of 15 games and all it takes is a three-game burst at this point to flip a season batting line. It s just one game, but you take every positive that comes from every ballgame, Renteria said. You don t want to discount what he did there. You even had Pito [José Abreu] driving a ball into the gap, leftcenter field early, driving in a couple runs. Those are the things we ve been looking for. 15: Feet that A's right fielder Stephen Piscotty inexplicably ran toward the infield while Moncada's 395- foot grand slam out to right field sailed over his head. While it apparently didn't look convincing from right field, the White Sox's first grand slam of the season and Moncada's first grand slam of his major league career gave the South Siders what at least seemed like a meaningful 6-1 margin at the time in a second inning that feels like it took place three days ago. 8-for-20: White Sox hitting with runners in scoring position on the day after Chicago came into the day hitting.158/.250/.350 in those situations. A two-out RBI single from Nicky Delmonico in the first inning began his three-hit day, and Abreu's two-run double in the third inning broke open an 8-4 lead. Anderson's two-out, game-tying RBI single off a Blake Treinen hanger to tie the game at 11 in the ninth seems like the ultimate example of situational hitting. Really big, Renteria said of the clutch hitting from Anderson and Welington Castillo in the ninth. Those are situations over the last six, seven days, we hadn t been getting those. But continuing to put ourselves in a position to get guys on base. We may not drive them in. There have been a lot of guys in the past that have not been driven in. But if you give yourself more chances than not over the long haul, they ll end up creating runs. 10: Batters faced by Fulmer, who has covered 10 2/3 innings over three starts this year. Getting yanked after just one inning seems like a short hook given he entered the second inning with a 6-1 lead, but after a home run by Mark Canha on a center-cut fastball started the inning, Fulmer lost his predilection for the strike zone, and back-to-back walks to load the bases ended his day. 8 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 BB, 11 K, 0 HR: Dominant combined work from long relievers Santiago and Volstad, alongside three scoreless frames from newcomer Rondón. Santiago was the only of the three to allow a run, but considering he threw two innings in relief Tuesday night as well, it was still quite the yeoman's effort. Generally, if your long relievers are having this sort of impact on the game, it's not great news, but maybe neither of them are much longer for these roles the way things are going.