WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF SEPTEMBER

WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 White Sox bat around in 8 th, rally past Tigers Scott Merkin and Brian Hedger, MLB.com Abreu surging down stretch after tough first half Scott Merkin, MLB.com Jones on a roll as White Sox setup man Scott Merkin, MLB.com Jose Abreu, White Sox offense stay hot in win over Tigers Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago Robin Ventura: Staff s uncertain future is part of the business Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago Heavy workload has White Sox relievers closing in on significant numbers Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago Wednesday s recap: White Sox 7, Tigers 4 Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune White Sox use eighth-inning surge to take series from Tigers Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune Robin Ventura: Staff will maintain professionalism despite uncertain future Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune Jose Abreu named Roberto Clemente Award nominee Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune White Sox series win in division no small feat Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times Abreu keeps watch on Miggy, lifts White Sox to victory Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times White Sox pick up Quintana, rally to beat Tigers Scot Gregor, Daily Herald White Sox GM Hahn tries lifting dour cloud hanging over team Scot Gregor, Daily Herald Cubs, Sox legends to face off in Schaumburg Staff, Daily Herald Levine: Robin Ventura, White Sox staff must wait on their fate Bruce Levine, CBS Chicago Late offensive push helps White Sox steal series from Tigers Lauren Comitor, The Athletic Will it take a magic act to get escape artist David Roberston out of Chicago? Cee Angi, The Athletic Abreu stays hot, White Sox rally past Tigers 7-4 Paul Ladewski, Associated Press White Sox bat around in 8 th, rally past Tigers By Scott Merkin and Brian Hedger / MLB.com September 7th, 2016 CHICAGO -- Avisail Garcia came back to hurt his old team, as his single to center with one out in the eighth scored pinch-runner J.B. Shuck with the deciding run in the White Sox 7-4 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. It was an especially tough loss for the Tigers, who had a one-run advantage entering the White Sox four-run eighth and could have forged a tie for the American League's second Wild Card spot with Baltimore prior to a three-game series between the two clubs this weekend in Detroit. "Not getting the series win is frustrating, but at the end of the day, we've got to show up at the ballpark on Friday," said Tigers catcher James McCann, who went 1-for-3 and scored a run. "We've got a big series [against] Baltimore." Shane Greene suffered the loss, as three of the four White Sox hitters he faced made hard contact. Jose Abreu, who had three hits and is now hitting.298, ripped an 0-2 pitch to left for a leadoff single, which was followed by Justin Morneau's run-scoring double to right-center. After Todd Frazier grounded back to Greene, Garcia brought home Shuck on a 1-1 fastball with a grounder up the middle. Tyler Saladino drove in the White Sox sixth run with a single to left, and Adam Eaton added a run-scoring single. "It's just the ball was in the middle [of the plate]," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Greene's performance. "The two balls that were hit to start off the inning by Abreu and Morneau were over the

plate. It's just as simple as that. He's just not getting the ball where he quite wants to. When he locates, he's going to be completely fine. I still have confidence in him. Even the best relievers have off days." Chris Beck earned the victory in relief of Jose Quintana, who allowed four runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings. Quintana walked McCann with two outs in the seventh and then gave up a single to Casey McGehee and Jose Iglesias' ground-rule double to give Detroit a 4-3 advantage. But with runners on second and third, Beck retired Ian Kinsler on a fly ball to right to limit the damage. Justin Upton propelled the Tigers to an early 3-1 lead with a three-run blast in the second, giving him 22 home runs and 70 RBIs on the season. "We had some late life there but Q threw a good game," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He's as solid as anybody. You're just kind of hoping he would be able to get through that one, and at least they got him off the hook." Anibal Sanchez started for the Tigers and yielded three runs on eight hits over five innings, striking out three and walking one. He gave way to the bullpen, which threw two scoreless innings before Greene entered. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Still scorching: There are very few hitters as hot as Upton right now. His three-run shot continued a torrid stretch. He's belted nine homers in the past 16 games. During that stretch, Upton is hitting.344 with 24 RBIs. He also smacked a pair of late-inning homers this week to give Detroit leads that held up for wins. Don't give up the fight: The White Sox didn't exactly knock the baseball around the ballpark in the third, but they still managed to score two runs and tie the game. Saladino singled and moved to second when Eaton drew a walk. One out later, with runners at second and third, Melky Cabrera lofted a fly ball to left that hung up for a bit. Upton was playing deep and came up just short on the attempted catch, and Saladino scored. Abreu followed with a game-tying sacrifice fly, arguably the hardest-hit ball of the frame. Close call: The Tigers appear to have dodged an injury following an awkward slide by designated hitter Victor Martinez. After grounding a single off third base to start the fourth, Martinez tried stretching it into a double. Cabrera's throw beat him to second, and Martinez was shaken up after his slide. He got to his feet and limped back into the dugout, but stayed in the game. Detroit is already without third baseman Nick Castellanos (broken hand) and just got second baseman Kinsler (finger) back from a two-game absence. "He's always going to have issues with the knees," Ausmus said. "He just kind of tweaked it a little bit when he went into the slide, but within 10 minutes he thought he'd be fine and within 20 minutes he was fine. Other than him having knee surgeries twice over the last five years? No, no concern whatsoever." Baserunning blunder: Three one-out hits from Tim Anderson, Cabrera and Abreu produced the White Sox first run in the first inning, but it also produced their second out and cut short a potential big inning. Abreu's single to right was hit hard enough that Cabrera held up at third, but Abreu made too big of a turn past first and was trapped in a rundown when Miguel Cabrera cut off the throw. Melky Cabrera broke for the plate as the Tigers tracked Abreu, and eventually was tagged out. Morneau grounded out to end the frame. QUOTABLE "Right now, we don't have the 'E' of elimination anywhere in our name. I know that the situation for us is very complicated, is very hard. Probably, we aren't going to make the playoffs. But our desire every single day is to try to win games no matter who is the opponent, who is the rival. Our goal every day is to win games." -- Abreu, through interpreter Billy Russo "No, I sat on it." -- Kinsler, when asked if he did anything to his split fingernail to help speed up his recovery

REPLAY REVIEWS Kinsler singled to lead off the sixth, but he was quickly picked off by Quintana. Detroit challenged the call, but the ruling was confirmed after a review that lasted 70 seconds. In the seventh, the Tigers had a review go their way. A crew-chief review overturned a call of safe on Eaton's bunt to start the White Sox half of the inning. WHAT'S NEXT Tigers: Rookie Michael Fulmer will start the opener of a big series against the Orioles, who lead Detroit by one game for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. Fulmer allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Orioles on May 15 at Camden Yards in his lone career outing vs. Baltimore. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. White Sox: Carlos Rodon begins a three-game set against the Royals on Friday night, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. CT. Rodon will make his career-high 24th start. He is 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in his last six starts. Abreu surging down stretch after tough first half By Scott Merkin / MLB.com September 7th, 2016 CHICAGO -- When the 2016 season comes to a close, Jose Abreu will take a step back and analyze his overall body of work. But not too many advanced metrics need to be invoked to realize that the White Sox stand as a far better team when Abreu has All-Star level production in the middle of the order. Take a 7-4 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field as an example. Abreu had three hits and one long flyout to center with the bases loaded to end the eighth, contributing to two of the team's three scoring opportunities. Detroit held a 4-3 lead entering the eighth until Abreu ripped an 0-2 slider from Shane Greene to left and began a four-run winning rally. "Yeah, he gets it started. If we can get some guys on, it seems he has the ability that's going to carry you," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura of his cleanup hitter. "He's swinging it good, you can tell he's patient as well. That's the biggest thing, he's not swinging at everything. "He's willing to take a walk, and it just changes the at-bat for the pitchers. We like it when he's swinging well." Prior to his eighth-inning at-bats, Abreu singled in the first, delivered a sacrifice fly in the third and singled again in the fifth. He now has a team-best 88 RBIs to go with 23 home runs and 29 doubles, not to mention raising his average to.298 and his OPS to.831. None of these lofty numbers looked possible when Abreu was hitting.269 with 56 RBIs and a.738 OPS at the end of July. He has since reached base in 33 of his last 34 games, hitting.381 with 12 homers, 22 runs scored and 32 RBIs in that stretch. Over his last eight games, Abreu is hitting.447 with 15 RBIs. Some criticism focuses on Abreu not being as productive when the White Sox were in postseason contention, going without a home run in July. Abreu acknowledged the up-and-down nature of his season, without going too deep into the results. "That's a question I can answer better at the end of the season," said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. "Right now, I'm having my best moment in this whole season, and that's part of all my work and all the advice that I've been getting from different people, especially from [assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks]. That's part of the work.

"This is a long season. No matter what, how good or bad your first half was, you still have the second half to do better. That's what I've been trying to do." Playing against Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, arguably the best right-handed hitter in the game, also provides Abreu with extra motivation and a chance to talk hitting with the outgoing Cabrera at first base. "We always try to talk about offense, about how he hits," Abreu said. "Pick some things up about him. It's good every time I have the opportunity to talk with him about offense." Jones on a roll as White Sox setup man By Scott Merkin / MLB.com September 7th, 2016 CHICAGO -- Nate Jones doesn't have the closer title where the White Sox late innings are concerned. That role belongs to David Robertson, whose 34 saves make him one of five pitchers in White Sox history to record at least 30 saves in back-to-back seasons. But Jones continues to record important outs in the seventh and eighth innings, giving the White Sox a pretty solid one-two punch at the back end of the bullpen. "I try my best to do my job and get the ball to D-Rob with the lead," Jones said. "It doesn't always work out like that. D-Rob does his job to the best of his ability. I like it and hopefully we are here for a while." "He has been amazing all year. He has been a bulldog out of the 'pen," Robertson said. "Nate pounds the strike zone. He throws extremely hard. He has electric breaking stuff. Guys don't dig in and put good swings on his pitches because he has such good stuff. He's turning into a force to be reckoned with." Over Jones' last nine games entering Wednesday, he has turned into an almost unhittable force. Opponents have three hits during Jones' nine innings in that span, while the right-hander has fanned 14 and walked one. His 66 games pitched place Jones at the top among American League relievers, and his 27 holds rank second. They also rank second all time in White Sox single-season history, needing four more to break Barry Jones' mark of 30. Only 17.6 (6 of 34) of inherited runners have scored against Jones, while first batters are 8-for-61. Four scoreless September appearances have produced one hit against Jones and nine strikeouts. Fiftyone of his 66 games have been scoreless and 36 of his appearances have been hitless. Jones has made 27 appearances without any rest, going 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings, striking out 39. "It's just an accumulation of the process throughout the year, learning about the different hitters and different teams and keep adding that to the previous knowledge from the previous years," Jones said. "That's what's working out right now." This 2016 season hasn't been perfect for Jones, who has nine blown saves. The one appearance in the last nine where Jones was scored upon came via Jarrod Saltalamacchia's deciding two-run home run in the eighth inning of an Aug. 29 game at Comerica Park. But refining the mental approach for Jones has been important to his setup work and his outstanding repertoire. "Coming up through the Minors, we talked about having a plan of attack and stuff like that," Jones said. "I give myself about five minutes just to think about it, come back to my chair, think about what happened, what the pitch was, where was it supposed to be, did I execute, things like that. After those five minutes, that's it.

"Once we leave, there's another game tomorrow. We concentrate on that. It's the same way with good outings. You think about it for five minutes, what you did right and how you executed and boom, that's it. I'm going to be in there tomorrow. Concentrate on that game." Jose Abreu, White Sox offense stay hot in win over Tigers By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago September 7th, 2016 Jose Abreu s hot bat continues to ignite the White Sox offense and has the club confident in what he s capable of once again. The slugger had three more hits on Wednesday afternoon and his White Sox teammates did the rest with a 7-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers in front of 13,078 at U.S. Cellular Field. Justin Morneau, Avisail Garcia, Tyler Saladino and Adam Eaton all had run-scoring hits in a four-run, eighth-inning rally as the White Sox closed out a series win over Detroit. Abreu, who raised his average to.298 and drove in his 88th run, had a game-tying sacrifice fly and later scored the game-tying run on Morneau s one-out double in the eighth off Shane Greene. (Abreu) gets it started, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. If we can get some guys on, it seems he has the ability that's going to carry you. He's swinging it good, you can tell he's patient as well. That's the biggest thing, he's not swinging at everything. He's willing to talk a walk. It just changes the at-bat for the pitchers. We like it when he's swinging well. The White Sox offense has struggled for many reasons this season. Though original plans called for a platoon, Adam LaRoche s retirement and a season-ending injury for Austin Jackson resulted in a full-time role for Garcia. It also landed Jimmy Rollins, who had a.624 OPS before he was released, in the No. 2 spot in the lineup early in the season as Melky Cabrera was needed to break up the middle of the order. Todd Frazier s struggles with runners in scoring position has also been one of the club s key issues. The team also expected a bigger boost from catchers Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila and didn t receive. And then there was Abreu, who until Aug. 9 was nowhere near the offensive force the team has come to rely upon the past two seasons. While he still produced at a league-average rate, Abreu and the White Sox had hoped for more. Over the last month the White Sox have received the desired production from Abreu and combined with a solid left-handed stick in Morneau as a result, they ve improved significantly. Abreu attributes the improvement to motivation provided by first-ever visit of his son, Dariel, and a mechanical adjustment with his hands. Since Dariel s Aug. 7 arrival, Abreu is hitting.379/.416/.647 with nine homers and 28 RBIs. In the same span, the White Sox have hit.277/.329/.430 and scored 4.9 runs per game. The team has also been held to two or fewer runs seven times (25 percent) in 28 games compared with 37 times in their first 111 games (33.3 percent). It gives us confidence going forward not only to finish the year strong but for next year too as well, depending on what do in the offseason, third baseman Todd Frazier said. To see the stuff he s doing now -- he seems real relaxed, he s focused and any pitch that comes, he either slows down nice and attacks the ball like a good hitter or a fastball he catches up with it and drives it. It s fun to see. Jose Quintana thought so, too.

Despite a good effort, Quintana (four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings) was on the hook for a loss until his teammates rallied in the eighth. Abreu started the go-ahead rally with a single and motored all the way around from first to score on Morneau s double to right center. Garcia followed Morneau with an RBI single to center to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead. Saladino and Eaton also had RBI singles to build a three-run cushion. Abreu s production hasn t just renewed his teammates faith in his abilities. Even the front office feels a sense of relief that their slugger hasn t morphed into a singles hitter. It certainly makes you more confident as you see him over the last six weeks, projecting out that he's going to be that same player that he was for the first two years of his career, general manager Rick Hahn said. Earlier, when he was scuffling, you looked at some of the things he was doing from his approach or some of the mechanical issues he might have been having and you felt confident he was going to be able to get back. But in all candor, you like seeing the performance match what you're projecting and we've certainly seen that over the last six weeks. Robin Ventura: Staff s uncertain future is part of the business By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago September 7th, 2016 With the White Sox headed for a fourth straight losing season, the future of the coaching staff and manager Robin Ventura is in limbo. The team has 23 games left after Wednesday s 7-4 White Sox win over the Detroit Tigers, and general manager Rick Hahn reiterated Tuesday he doesn t plan to discuss the status of Ventura or any of his coaches until after the season. But just as he has contended all along, Ventura, who is in his fifth season as the team s manager, understands this is the nature of his role and the same goes for his coaches. Even though nobody knows if they ll be with the White Sox next season, Ventura doesn t think it would affect how the staff handles itself over the final few weeks. That s just part of the business that we re in, Ventura said. It s not going to change any of the professionalism or the work that anyone is doing. We ll have to wait and see. There (are) a lot of occupations that are like that. I don t think we re unique in any way. Ours is a little more public than most of them, and that s part of the job and you understand it and just deal with it. It doesn t change what we re doing the rest of the way out. Whether it s the coaching staff or which direction the team is headed this offseason, Hahn has said for weeks he wouldn t publicly discuss the subject until after the season ends. He understands coaches would love to know whether or not they ll be employed. But he also thinks talking about the future with part of the season left isn t good for anyone involved. Regardless of what profession you're in, nobody enjoys uncertainty about their own situation or security for their family going forward, Hahn said. At the same time, everyone here knows this is the business we've chosen and with that comes certain difficulties from time to time when a team doesn't achieve to the level we anticipated, that we all had hoped for. Again, it's not a situation any of us wanted to be in. But this is where we're at, and as a result we're going to have to make some tough decisions over the coming weeks and months. Hahn did offer a vote of confidence to the amateur scouting department, noting that while things are dour, the club is happy with its most recent draft. But if there are changes, Hahn also suggested they might not just happen in Chicago. The most exposure is at the big league level, that's where you see the most critique, the most analysis, Hahn said. Obviously, we're all structured in a way that the results in Chicago are the most important thing, so when things don't work out in Chicago you have to look at sort of behind the scenes or behind

the curtain about what else may not be going well, whether it's from an advanced scouting standpoint or it's from a major league scouting standpoint. But it really does go all the way down to our operations on the amateur level and player development. Heavy workload has White Sox relievers closing in on significant numbers By Dan Hayes / CSN Chicago September 7th, 2016 Constantly playing in tight contests has been a detriment to the White Sox success this season and put the bullpen in difficult spots. But it also has given the team s top two relievers a chance to reach some significant numbers. With 24 games left to play, David Robertson has an outside shot at 40 saves while Nate Jones could establish a new club-record for holds. Jones moved into second place in team history with his 27th hold on Tuesday night, which has him three behind Barry Jones mark of 30 established in 1990. Robertson converted his 34th save in 41 tries on Tuesday, which has him five away from the career high he established in 2014 and six from 40. Even lately, there s been some rocky ones, he ll admit that, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Robertson. But any time when you get up in that number -- 40 is a special number for closers and he has been able to do it. It might not be necessarily his best stuff, but he s getting it done. That s just the heart he has of being able to go out there and he gets it done. Of their 138 games played, the White Sox have had 78 (56.5 percent) decided by two runs or fewer. Much of that is because the offense, though slightly improved, hasn t been good enough to put games out of reach, which often leaves the team s bullpen in a vulnerable spot. Rarely are Jones and Robertson afforded a mental day off and even more so now in the absence of Zach Duke, who led the American League in appearances when he was traded, Zach Putnam and Jake Petricka. Jones is in the midst of a career year with 77 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings and a 2.47 ERA. The righthander has been even better in his last 36 games with a 1.98 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings. Nate has been amazing all year, Robertson said. He has been just a guy who comes in, a bulldog out of the pen. He pounds the strike zone. He throws extremely hard. He has electric breaking stuff. Guys don t dig in and put good swings on his pitches because he has such good stuff. He s turning into a force to be reckoned with. Robertson s season has been a little more complicated. He s still striking out more than a batter per nine innings and has converted 83 percent of his tries. But he s had his share of blowups, too, as his 3.75 ERA suggests. Robertson dodged around another potential trouble spot on Tuesday. First, he watched as J.D. Martinez s fly ball snuck by the front of the foul pole for a long strike -- It was foul, he said. I saw it. I knew it immediately. I was like, I need one instant replay to go my way for once and it finally did. Then, Robertson, who blew a save in Sunday s 12-inning victory, worked around a single and a walk to close out a 2-0 victory for Miguel Gonzalez. Robertson, who is in the second year of a four-year, $46- million deal, has converted 68 of 82 tries since he joined the White Sox. I think I better make them a little quicker and easier if I m going to get 40, Robertson said. But you know I definitely wouldn t say I m having a great year. I m doing ok. I d like to be doing better that s for sure. I want to go out there and do well and perform for our team. Sometimes it has been tough for me. I ve had some really bad outings, but I m trying to put it together toward the end and finish strong.

Wednesday s recap: White Sox 7, Tigers 4 By Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune September 7th, 2016 The White Sox used a four-run eighth inning to pull away for a 7-4 victory against the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. Justin Morneau doubled to right field off Tigers reliever Shane Greene to tie it at 4-4, and Avisail Garcia followed with an RBI single up the middle to push the Sox ahead. Tyler Saladino and Adam Eaton added RBI singles off reliever Justin Wilson to help the Sox pull away for their first series victory against the Tigers since mid-june. Sox left-hander Jose Quintana allowed four earned runs on eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. At the plate Melky Cabrera s RBI double gave the Sox an early 1-0 lead. Tim Anderson singled in the first off Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez before Cabrera s double to left-center field drove him in. The Sox added two runs in the third, on Cabrera s RBI bloop single to left field and Jose Abreu s sacrifice fly to center field. On the mound Justin Upton hit a three-run homer off Quintana to tie it at 3-3 in the second. The game was delayed 40 minutes because of the potential of a storm in the area, though it never rained, and when it started Quintana retired the side on six pitches in the first. But he gave up singles to Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez to start the second before Upton s shot to left field. After striking out the first two batters of the seventh, Quintana issued a walk and a single before Jose Iglesias ground-rule, RBI double to left field tied it and drove him from the game. White Sox use eighth-inning surge to take series from Tigers By Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune September 7th, 2016 The Tigers rolled into U.S. Cellular Field this week looking to solidify their positioning for a playoff spot, but the White Sox put a crimp in their plans. The Sox used a four-run eighth inning to pull away for a 7-4 victory Wednesday, winning their first series against the Tigers since June 13-15. The Sox finished the year 7-12 against them, winning the last two games to push the Tigers a game behind the Orioles for the second American League wild-card spot. Playing in a steamy, largely empty ballpark with a playoff shot all but officially eliminated, the Sox strung together five hits and a walk against Tigers relievers Shane Greene and Justin Wilson in the eighth. Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, who started the run with the last of his three hits, said the Sox remain focused on winning despite their 67-72 record. "Right now, we don't have the 'E' of elimination (next to) our name," Abreu said through a team interpreter. "I know that the situation for us is very complicated, is very hard. Probably, we aren't going to make the playoffs. But our desire every single day is to try to win games no matter who the opponent is, who the rival is."

Jose Quintana allowed four earned runs on eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings, most of the damage coming on Justin Upton's three-run homer in the second. The game was delayed 40 minutes because of the potential of a storm in the area, though it never rained. When the game started, Quintana retired the side on six pitches. But he gave up singles to Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez to start the second before Upton's shot to left field. After striking out the first two batters of the seventh, Quintana issued a walk and a single before Jose Iglesias' ground-rule, RBI double to left field tied it and drove him from the game. Chris Beck earned the victory with 1 1/3 scoreless innings and David Robertson picked up his 35th save. "It wasn't my best day, but I tried to keep fighting," Quintana said. "My breaking ball didn't have good command today so I used more of my fastball. But that happens sometimes and I'll try to work on it and come back for the next time." Melky Cabrera had RBIs in the first and third off Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Justin Morneau drove in Abreu with a double in the eighth, and Avisail Garcia, Tyler Saladino and Adam Eaton added RBI singles. "It feels good for the guys to come through and at least (Quintana) doesn't get a loss out of that," Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "(The Tigers) got him there in the seventh, but it was a well-pitched game by him." Robin Ventura: Staff will maintain professionalism despite uncertain future By Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune September 7th, 2016 As Robin Ventura and his coaches play the waiting game regarding job status for next season, the White Sox manager said he expects work to go on as usual until general manager Rick Hahn reveals their futures at the end of the season. Ventura long has said he won t worry about his tenure with the Sox until he completes the season, and he said Wednesday he and his staff will maintain their professionalism despite the uncertain circumstances. Ventura is in the final year of a three-year contract extension, and the Sox are on pace for their fourth straight losing season during his five years as manager. There are a lot of occupations that are like that, Ventura said. Ours is a little more public, but that s part of the job. You understand it and just deal with it. It doesn t change what we re doing the rest of the way out. Hahn acknowledged this week the uncertain situation in the last month is not great for anybody but reiterated he doesn t plan to make any announcements until after the season. Everyone here knows this is the business we ve chosen and with that comes certain difficulties when a team doesn t achieve to the level we anticipated, that we all had hoped for. While potential managerial or coaching changes receive the most attention, Hahn said the organization also will examine whether changes need to be made at other levels. When things don t work out in Chicago you sort of have to look behind the scenes about what else may not be going well, whether it s from an advanced scouting standpoint or it s from a major-league scouting standpoint, Hahn said. But it really does go all the way down to our operations on the amateur level and player development.

Nevertheless, pointed to the Sox s recent draft under new amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler as a recent positive. Not only have the Sox given positive reviews to their top three picks Zack Collins, Zack Burdi and Alec Hansen but Hahn also said rookie-level Great Falls made a solid run to the Pioneer League playoffs with many recently drafted players. You see areas you can be hopeful about, Hahn said. But when things aren t going the way you want in Chicago, everything is fair game to be looked at. Jose Abreu named Roberto Clemente Award nominee By Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune September 7th, 2016 First baseman Jose Abreu is the Sox nominee for Major League Baseball s Roberto Clemente Award given to a player who represents the game with character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field. Abreu and the Sox started Abreu s Amigos in 2015 to help support children with special needs through social opportunities, including trips to the ballpark. Abreu thanked the Sox for helping him set up the program and then gave credit to his mother, Daysi Correa. All of this comes from the education I get from my mom, Abreu said through a team interpreter. She was the one who always told me how to help people, to help the needy. Once I signed with the White Sox, that was always one of my first thoughts, try to help people, no matter if it was in this country or in Cuba. Once I was here, my priority was to help people here, to give something back for all of the things I ve been given. White Sox series win in division no small feat By Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun-Times September 7th, 2016 The White Sox series win over the Detroit Tigers they took two of three after losing Chris Sale s start in the series opener Monday despite an excellent start by their ace was no ordinary achievement. It marked the fifth time they ve won in 19 series against American League Central teams, and three of them were against the last-place Minnesota Twins. The other two were against the Tigers. This is nothing new for the Sox, are 250-325 in the division since 2009. Their only winning record during that time was a 37-35 mark in 2012. Here s how rough it s been for them since then team by team, year by year. Indians: 2-17 in 2013, 9-10 in 2014, 20-9 in 2015, 3-9 in 2016. Tigers: 7-12 in 2013, 7-12 in 2014, 9-10 in 2015, 7-12 in 2016. Royals: 9-10 in 2013, 6-13 in 2014, 7-12 in 2015, 3-9 in 2016. Twins: 8-11 in 2013, 9-10 in 2014, 6-13 in 2015, 11-5 in 2016. The Tigers failed to make the postseason last year for first time after four straight times in the playoffs, and now they are back in it, in large part because of their success within the division. When I was over there, one of the things I always harped about is you have to beat the teams in your division, Sox catcher and former Tiger Alex Avila said this week. It s something we always tried to do

exclusively, more than anything else. We ve struggled with that this year, and that s the main reason why we re in the position [fourth place] we re in. The Sox are 5-11-3 in division series this season. They are in the middle of a 21-game stretch of games against division teams, including a series against the Royals this weekend following Thursday s off day. Jones changing it up On June 17, eighth-inning specialist Nate Jones ERA was at 3.07. Jones has pitched to a 1.98 ERA with 51 strikeouts over 36 1/3 innings since then, and part of his most recent success, Avila said, is due to a changeup Jones dusted off from his minor league days when he was a starter. His 98-mph fastball-slider combination is wicked, Avila said, and he doesn t have trouble getting lefties out but to have something else to go the opposite direction to a left-handed hitter would be big. At 90 mph, Avila said, Jones changeup acts like a two-seam fastball. He s had a great season but it could propel him to another level, Avila said. A no-rain delay The game was delayed 40 minutes because a fast-moving storm was anticipated. It never did rain, and the sun was out for most of the wait. First pitch was at 1:50. This and that The Sox are 37-30 at home, including 8-3 over their last 11 games. *Melky Cabrera is batting.349 with a homer, four doubles and a triple plus nine RBI over his last 10 games. Cabrera went 2-for-4 Wednesday to raise his average to.296. *Second baseman Tyler Saladino tied a career high with three hits. Saladino, who has taken over for the injured Brett Lawrie, is batting.308 with two homers, five doubles and 12 RBI over his last 20 games. *Chris Beck (2-1) recorded four outs to get the win in relief. Abreu keeps watch on Miggy, lifts White Sox to victory By Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun-Times September 7th, 2016 To be the best, you watch the best, Jose Abreu says. So there he was on at least two occasions during the White Sox series at Detroit last week, watching Miguel Cabrera taking batting practice. Seated alone at the end of the visitors dugout, Abreu was all eyes. It s pretty basic, Abreu said through translator Billy Russo. When you know someone is the greatest at what he does, you watch him just to see what you can pick up from him. Abreu was a fan of Cabrera when he was in Cuba and he talks to the Tigers star about hitting whenever he can. No disrespect to anyone, but for me he is the best hitter in all of baseball right now, Abreu said. The way he makes adjustments during an at-bat. His mindset during an at-bat, he looks like he s always ahead of the pitcher, he s always ahead of the game. That s something no one else can do as well as him. It s like he s playing at this level against AAA. It s so easy for him.

After a poor first half, Abreu is making it look easy as well. He continued on his current extended tear with three singles and a sacrifice fly in the White Sox 7-4 victory Wednesday afternoon over Cabrera s Tigers, a win that gave the Sox a series victory over a postseason contender which needs the wins more than the Sox (67-72). Abreu has now reached base in 33 of his last 34 games, batting.381 with 12 home runs, six doubles, eight walks, three hit-by-pitches and 32 RBI during that stretch. He singled against Shane Greene leading off the eighth inning and scored the tying run from first on Justin Morneau s double to the right-center field gap. The Sox would add three more runs in the inning on RBI singles by Avisail Garcia, Tyler Saladino and Adam Eaton. David Robertson pitched the ninth, getting the three outs in order after putting the tying run at the plate with a leadoff walk to J.D. Martinez and single by Justin Upton. Robertson (35th save) struck out two, including pinch hitter Tyler Collins to end the game for the second day in a row. Abreu said the Sox know they are all but out of the playoff race, but he and his teammates continue to battle. We don t have the E of elimination anywhere in our name, he said. I know that the situation for us is very complicated, very hard. But our desire every single day is to win games no matter who the opponent is. The Sox fought back from a 3-1 deficit after Justin Upton hit his second three-run homer of the series, against left-hander Jose Quintana, in the second. Quintana then strung together four scoreless innings before allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh on Jose Iglesias RBI ground-rule double on Quintana s 116th pitch. In the eighth, Abreu, now batting.298 with 21 homers and 88 RBI, started the four-run burst that got the lead back and more. He has the ability to carry you, manager Robin Ventura said. He s swinging it good and he s patient as well. That s the biggest thing, he s not swinging at everything. He s willing to take a walk, and that changes the at-bat for the pitcher. Abreu said he likes to watch Cabrera s sequences during BP to see how the two-time MVP and 11-time All-Star uses his hands and how he controls his body. I can incorporate subtle things to my approach. The Sox and Tigers are done with each other for 2016, so Abreu s intelligence gathering and chats with Cabrera are done till next year. We always talk about hitting, Abreu said. I take extra motivation every time we play the Tigers [because of Cabrera]. It s good to talk with him about offense. White Sox pick up Quintana, rally to beat Tigers By Scot Gregor / Daily Herald September 7th, 2016 Jose Quintana is the major-league king when it comes to poor run support, and the Chicago White Sox left-hander is also a part of baseball's royal court when it comes to no decisions. Quintana didn't factor in the outcome Wednesday afternoon, when the Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 at U.S. Cellular Field. This time, Quintana was fine with his fate -- not that's he ever complained in the past.

Quintana put the White Sox in an early hole when he served up a 3-run homer to Justin Upton in the second inning. And after the Sox tied the game at 3 with a pair of runs in the third, Quintana appeared to be headed for a loss when the Tigers went ahead with the run in the seventh inning. But with Quintana out of the game, the White Sox scored 4 runs in the eighth and beat Detroit for the second straight day. "I tried to keep fighting all game," Quintana said. "It's tough to win when I gave up the homer (to Upton), but I tried to keep the score close and everybody did a great job today to come back. "It wasn't my best day but I tried to keep fighting and we won. That's most important." Quintana pitched 6⅔ innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. "For Q, I think your heart goes into it a little bit more just because of the kind of path he's been on and the history of it," manager Robin Ventura said. "Offensively, it feels good for the guys to come through and at least he doesn't get a loss out of that. It's a well pitched game by him, they got him there in the seventh, but it's a well pitched game by him." Tough business: When the season ends, the White Sox are going to announce the status of manager Robin Ventura and the coaching staff. Considering the Sox are heading for their fourth straight losing season, changes are expected to be made. "They understand that," Ventura said of his coaches. "You sit and talk about things and that's just part of the business that we're in. It's not going to change any of the professionalism or the work that anyone is doing. We'll have to wait and see." Baseball can be a brutal business, but Ventura said the sport is not that much different than most professions. "I don't think we're unique in any way," Ventura said. "Ours is a little more public than most of them and that's part of the job and you understand it and just deal with it. It doesn't change what we're doing the rest of the way out." White Sox GM Hahn tries lifting dour cloud hanging over team By Scot Gregor / Daily Herald September 7th, 2016 Give general manager Rick Hahn credit for providing the best headline of the season back in late July, when he accurately described the Chicago White Sox as being "mired in mediocrity." Hahn's verbal skills were on display again before Tuesday night's 2-0 win over the Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field. After fielding a series of depressing questions -- What's wrong with James Shields? Why did it take so long for Jose Abreu to start hitting? When is manager Robin Ventura and the rest of the coaching staff going to be fired? -- Hahn pumped the brakes with another interesting statement. "Everything is sounding so dour right now," the Sox's GM said.

Hahn understands the reason for all the doom and gloom, considering the White Sox are heading toward their fourth-straight losing season. But for one day, at least, he stepped away from the bad. "I think we're absolutely thrilled with our most recent draft," Hahn said. "You've seen the (Advanced Rookie) Great Falls club, which is made up of a lot of those players, go to the postseason. I think they had a 14-game winning streak to end the year and five all-stars. You see areas you can be hopeful about." True, top draft picks like starting pitcher Alec Hansen (second round), outfielder Jameson Fisher (fourth round), starting pitcher Bernando Flores (seventh) and shortstop Mitch Roman (12th) helped Great Falls go 46-26 and advance to the Pioneer League playoffs. But how many are going to be able to help the Sox? And when? Under new amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler, the White Sox did appear to execute a muchneeded strong draft in June, also landing catcher/designated hitter Zack Collins with their first pick (No. 10 overall), hard-throwing reliever Zack Burdi with the No. 26 overall pick and promising outfielder Alex Call (.308/.361/.449 slash ling at Class A Kannapolis) on the third round. With so much promising talent entering the system, it sure seems like a good time to continue adding young players with impact potential in trades for veterans this winter. Hahn did say a "short-term step-back" has been discussed, and that is code for a rebuilding project. Most Sox fans I've heard from are in favor of a youth movement, which seems to be working out quite well for the Yankees this season. However, many of those same fans don't seem to believe Hahn, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and vice president Kenny Williams can properly execute a rebuild. While there have been some whispers Reinsdorf is considering selling the Sox after the season, he is expected to stay put, as are Hahn and Williams. The same cannot be said for Ventura and the majority of the coaching staff, along with the White Sox's major-league scouting department. "The most exposure is at the big-league level, that's where you see the most critique, the most analysis," Hahn said. "Obviously, we're all structured in a way that the results in Chicago are the most important thing, so when things don't work out in Chicago you have to look at sort of behind the scenes or behind the curtain about what else may not be going well, whether it's from an advanced scouting standpoint or it's from a major-league scouting standpoint. "It really does go all the way down to our operations on the amateur level and player development." Cubs, Sox legends to face off in Schaumburg By Staff / Daily Herald September 7th, 2016 Chicago Cubs and White Sox legends -- including South Side World Series champions Ozzie Guillen, Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede -- will meet in a charity softball game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg.

The Cubs will be represented by Carlos Zambrano, Jon Lieber, Brian McRae, Cliff Floyd, Bill Madlock, Adam Greenberg, Corey Patterson, Mike Remlinger, Ryan Dempster, Bobby Howry, Ray Burris, Roosevelt Brown and Scott Eyre. Sox players also will include Norberto Martin, Freddy Garcia, Greg Walker, Carl Everett, Mike Huff, Dan Pasqua, Brian Anderson and Toby Hall. Though the players were confirmed as of Wednesday, organizers stress that the rosters are subject to change at any time without notice. Tickets for the 2016 Larry A. Pogofsky All-Star Softball Challenge start at $20 for a box seat, with VIP tickets that include a postgame picnic and special gift going for $50. Before the game, at noon, kids will have the opportunity to participate in an on-field baseball skills clinic hosted by the Bulls/Sox Academy. A spot in the clinic can be purchased in conjunction with either a box seat ticket (raising the price to $75) or a VIP ticket (for a total price of $105). Tickets can be purchased online at boomersbaseball.com, by phone at (847) 461-3695 or by visiting the Boomers box office at 1999 S. Springinsguth Road in Schaumburg from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday. All proceeds will benefit the Larry A. Pogofsky Charitable Trust, a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit created to honor the legacy of Larry Pogofsky, a former owner and board member of the Chicago White Sox. Levine: Robin Ventura, White Sox staff must wait on their fate By Bruce Levine / CBS Chicago September 7th, 2016 CHICAGO (CBS) The last several weeks of the baseball season can be a real grind for the teams and players out of contention. In the case of managers and coaches, it can be even worse. As it pertains to the staff of the underachieving White Sox, there will be long days and evenings before they find out what their fate is. The White Sox front office is taking a long look at the entire organization, including manager Robin Ventura and his coaches. None of them have contracts beyond the end of this 2016 season.ventura is finishing the fifth and final year of his deal as manager, and the team hasn t been in contention in any of the last four seasons. Despite speculation swirling that the White Sox won t renew Ventura s deal, he has handled the situation with the same class and professionalism that he has displayed his entire baseball career. Standing up and being counted upon is what the 49-year-old Ventura insists on as the season draws to a close with Chicago out of playoff contention. They understand that, Ventura said about his staff s situation. You sit and talk about things. They get it, and that is just a part of the business we are in. That is not going to change any of the professionalism or the work anybody is doing. We will have to wait and see. Ventura insisted that not knowing your fate on the job isn t just a baseball dynamic. There are a lot of occupations like that, he said. I don t think (baseball) is unique in any way. Our jobs are a little more public than most of them. Again, that is part of the job. You understand it and deal with it. It doesn t change what we are doing the rest of the way out. General manager Rick Hahn has said from midseason on that the coaching staff would have to wait until season s end for a final evaluation. We are still going to wait until after the season, Hahn said when asked for a timetable. It s not great (for them). No one enjoys that, regardless of the profession you are in. Nobody enjoys uncertainty about their

own situation or security for their family going forward. At the same time, everyone knows here this is the business we have chosen. With that comes certain difficulties at times when a team does not achieve the level we anticipate. Again, it s not a situation any of us wanted to be in or hoped for. This is where we are at. As a result, we are going to have to make some tough decisions over the coming weeks and months. Hahn is taking the same view of the entire organization from top to bottom. I will say with everything looking so dour, we are absolutely thrilled with our most recent draft, Hahn said. We saw our Great Falls team (in the rookie league) go to the postseason and have a 14-game winning streak to end the year, with five All-Stars. You do see areas you can be hopeful about. When things aren t going the way you want in Chicago, everything is fair game. Late offensive push helps White Sox steal series from Tigers By Lauren Comitor / The Athletic September 7th, 2016 It s not how you start, it s how you finish. That s what mattered on Wednesday afternoon as the White Sox topped the Tigers 7-4 in the final game of their three-game series. The Sox overcame some bad first-inning baserunning (so bad, in fact, that broadcaster Steve Stone said it was absolutely a clinic in what not to do in baserunning, in his version of Eddie Olczyk s For all you young hockey players out there ) and a three-run home run surrendered by Jose Quintana to win backto-back games against the Tigers for the first time since July. Crazy eighth: Heading into the eighth down 4-3, the White Sox needed to kick it in gear. They did that and more, batting around in a four-run eighth that saw three Tigers relief pitchers. Jose Abreu led it off with a single, followed by a Justin Morneau double, his 11th of the season, to score Abreu. Avisail Garcia hit a single, Omar Narvaez walked, and Tyler Saladino and Adam Eaton hit back-toback singles to score the Sox s remaining three runs. Abreu went 3-for-4 on the day, continuing his hot September in which he batted.400/.419/.800 going into Wednesday s game. Got his back: For once, things worked out in Quintana s favor, as his offense picked him up after a shaky start. Though he did bounce back somewhat after giving up a season-high seven earned runs his last time out. The majority of the Tigers offense came in the second inning, when Justin Upton hit his fourth home run in six games, a three-run shot, off a Quintana curveball. After giving up a single to James McCann after the homer, Quintana cruised, retiring the next 11 batters. Quintana struck out the first two batters in the seventh, but ended up giving up another run before being pulled in favor of Chris Beck. He finished with four earned runs allowed on eight hits, two walks and seven strikeouts in 6 ⅔ innings of work. By the number: 23. That s the number of games the White Sox have left against the Royals, Indians, Phillies, Rays and Twins. The Royals, who are up next, and the Indians have given the Sox problems all season long, but otherwise they could be in decent shape. They ve gone a collective 19-26 against those teams this season. On deck: The White Sox have an off day Thursday before taking on the Royals at home Friday night to celebrate Halfway to St. Patrick s Day. Carlos Rodon (6-8, 3.90 ERA) will face Yordano Ventura (10-9, 4.22 ERA). Rodon comes off his longest outing in over three months as he looks to finish the final few weeks of the season on a high note. Since August 6, Rodon has posted a 1.91 ERA. Ventura started out