Santana, Giolito allow 16 hits combined in White Sox’ loss

D-backs 11, Sox 2

Santana’s first start

Ervin Santana, 36, making his first Cactus League start with an eye on nailing down the fifth starter’s job, was perfect in two of his four innings, got through a lot of traffic in the second and served up a three-run home run to catcher Alex Avila, the former Sox player, in the Diamondbacks’ four-run fourth Wednesday in Glendale. Avila also hit a three-run homer against another Sox rotation piece, Lucas Giolito, in the seventh, giving him six RBI.

Santana threw 75 pitches, allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out three. Before this, he pitched in simulated games and in a minor-league game.

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“Everything was good,’’ Santana said. “I kept the ball down in the zone. I think the homer was the only hard-hit ball.’’

Gio, oh, no

Giolito, pitching in relief on a day he lines up in the rotation as the fourth starter, had another rough outing, getting clubbed for seven runs, eight hits — including two homers — and two walks in 3‰ innings. His ERA climbed to 9.00 this spring. Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas, a Mount Carmel grad and the son of Sox strength-and-conditioning coordinator Allen Thomas, homered against Giolito in the ninth.

Six straight losses

Against a second-tier Sox lineup, four Diamondbacks pitchers were perfect through six innings. Infielder Ryan Goins opened the seventh with an opposite-field homer. The Sox are a Cactus League-worst 7-16-2 after losing their sixth in a row.

On deck

Rangers at Sox, Glendale, 3:05 p.m. Thursday, whitesox.com, Jason Hammel vs. Ivan Nova.