White Sox rookie Delmonico stays hot with two home runs

ARLINGTON, Texas — Nicky Delmonico’s remarkable burst into the big leagues continued with a two-home-run night in the White Sox’ 4-3 victory Friday against the Rangers. Both homers gave the Sox the lead, and the second was an inside-the-park shot in the eighth inning that broke a 3-3 tie.

The left-handed-hitting Delmonico, the designated hitter and cleanup man Friday, has four homers in his last 11 plate appearances and is batting .382. He has been on base in 14 of his 15 games since getting called up from Class AAA Charlotte.

‘‘I feel like I’m good with my approach right now,’’ said Delmonico, the first Sox rookie since Joe Borchard in 2002 to hit an inside-the-park homer. ‘‘I’m getting good pitches to hit and barreling up everything I can.’’

Veteran right-hander James Shields, who allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings, said Delmonico simply looks like a kid having fun.

‘‘He’s playing really loose,’’ Shields said. ‘‘You don’t see that very often in young kids that come up and make an impact the way he is.’’

Gregory Infante earned his first career victory and Juan Minaya his first career save.

Lopez still sore

Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, who left his second start of the season Thursday with soreness in his right side, still was feeling pain and continues to be day-to-day, manager Rick Renteria said.

Renteria doesn’t think the issue is anything more serious, such as an oblique, but he said the Sox will be cautious with Lopez, one of their top pitching prospects.

Barring a quick recovery in the next day or two, it seems reasonable to assume Lopez won’t make his next scheduled start Tuesday.

Lopez, who pitched six innings of two-run ball in his Sox debut Aug. 11 against the Royals, allowed six runs, five hits and four walks in

4 1/3 innings against the Rangers.

‘‘Hurt,’’ pitching coach Don Cooper said when he was asked how Lopez looked Thursday. ‘‘We saw it as the game was going on. The fastball wasn’t coming out of his hand. So we took him out, and now we are going to get him well.’’

Taking out the trash

First baseman Jose Abreu is a nose-to-the-grindstone worker, but he showed his lighter side Wednesday in Los Angeles when, after hitting a homer, he toted a large garbage can on his back and collected trash from teammates in the Sox’ dugout.

‘‘It was just a way to have some fun,’’ Abreu said through an interpreter. ‘‘The team is struggling, so when you do something good, you have to have some fun. You have to keep the atmosphere in the dugout and clubhouse loose.’’

Abreu’s duties as a leader never have been more apparent.

‘‘It’s big,’’ Renteria said. ‘‘Those voices are huge because even though we always try to keep a pulse on everything that’s going on, a lot of that pulse also comes from the information the players are relaying to us.’’

Avi out again

Outfielder Avisail Garcia (left wrist) was held out for a second consecutive game. He has missed 20 of the Sox’ last 41 games with assorted injuries.

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

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