SURPRISE, Ariz. — Aside from shortstop Tyler Saladino collecting two hits, including a double, to raise his Cactus League average to .429, the White Sox did little of note in a 5-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
There was this: Right-hander Chris Beck, who has struggled, struck out four in two hitless innings.
Rule 5 draft pick Dylan Covey didn’t look as bad as his line of three runs in 2 2/3 innings showed. A ground-ball pitcher, he struck out two and walked one.
Omar Minaya and Matt Purke each pitched a scoreless inning.
The Sox are 8-6-1 in spring games.
They’re QQ for Quintana
Not that Jose Quintana’s trade value needed a boost, but his stellar outing for Colombia against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic on Friday couldn’t have hurt. Quintana opened with five hitless innings in what broadcaster and Hall of Famer John Smoltz called the best pitching performance he has seen in a WBC first-round game. There was also a buzz around Sox camp the next day.
“”He faced an All-Star lineup and literally no-hit them,” fellow left-hander Carlos Rodon said.
Knowing Quintana has been training hard for the WBC, manager Rick Renteria said his ace might be due for backfield work “as opposed to in-game stuff because his intensity level was pretty high yesterday. I’m not worried about Q.’’
Quintana made his first All-Star team in 2016, but he’s ranked seventh among pitchers in wins above replacement since the start of 2013, behind Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke and Corey Kluber.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
No. 10 overall draft pick, catcher Zack Collins, hit a three-run homer against James Shields in a minor-league scrimmage on the back fields. Collins was reassigned to minor-league camp Friday.
On deck
Split-squad games on Sunday — Rangers at Sox, 2:05 (Ch. 9), Mike Hauschild vs. Michael Kopech; Sox at Dodgers in Glendale, 9:05, Derek Holland vs. Alex Wood.
