Second baseman Yoan Moncada was available to pinch hit Thursday night, a day after leaving the Sox’ 3-2 loss in St. Louis with a sore left hamstring, right foot and left thumb.
Yolmer Sanchez was in the starting lineup leading off at second base as the Sox opened a four-game series against the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Moncy’s doing fine,’’ manager Rick Renteria said Thursday. “I expect he should be back in there tomorrow. He was tested, everything looked fine. He’s continuing to do all of his routines.’’
Renteria said Moncada’s hamstring issue “might have been more of a cramp than anything” and that he talked with him at length about proper hydration.
“I think he’ll be fine,’’ Renteria said.
Renteria gave Moncada a chance to tough it out and stay in the game Wednesday.
“I took him out in the middle of a ballgame and I told him ‘I can’t take you out in the middle of a ballgame and start you the next day. C’mon, not a good idea,’ ’’ Renteria said.
Castillo scratched
Catcher Welington Castillo was scratched from the lineup before the game with low abdominal pain and replaced by Omar Narvaez.
*Right fielder Avisail Garcia’s Grade 2 right hamstring is considerably more serious than Moncada’s issue — he’s on the disabled list — and while Renteria said Garcia “is doing very well, pain free and stretching very well” it will likely be a few weeks before he’s back, the Sox are saying.
Fulmer’s small fix
Right-hander Carson Fulmer (2-1, 4.32 ERA), scheduled to start Friday, believes he made “a small mechanical adjustment’’ that paid off in his last two starts – seven scoreless innings against the Royals on Saturday and six innings of two-run ball against the Mariners on April 23 – that bodes well for future outings.
“Aligning my shoulders [properly],” Fulmer said. “Being a small-statured guy [6 feet] I was trying to create angle driving down the mound when I didn’t need to.
“I’m really feeling comfortable with where I am right now.’’
Part of the battle is mental for Fulmer, who has struggled to consistently command his good stuff ever since the Sox drafted him eighth overall in the 2015 draft.
“I think I’m over the hump of making the game too big sometimes,’’ he said. “Keep things simple, stay competitive and trust my ability to throw strikes with everything I have. I’m settling in and grasping things more now.’’
Fulmer has allowed four walks and seven hits in his last two starts covering 13 innings. Those outings have contributed to a White Sox ERA of 2.95 ERA in 10 games since April 23, the the second-lowest mark in the American League and fifth-lowest in the major leagues.
Broadcast news
Tom Paciorek is filling in as TV analyst during the Twins series, which means a reunion of the Ken Harrelson and Paciorek team Sunday. Harrelson is working home Sundays in this his final season.
