Avisail Garcia out of White Sox lineup for fifth straight game

Avisail Garcia rounds third against the Minnesota Twins on June 20. (AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. — After saying he would be out a couple of days, All-Star right fielder Avisail Garcia missed his fifth consecutive game Monday with a sore left knee as the White Sox opened a six-game road trip against the A’s.

The good news is Garcia is close to returning. He took full batting practice, did some running on the bases and seems to be erring on the side of caution rather than trying to rush back.

“You only have two [knees],’’ Garcia said grinning.

“Avi is doing very, very well,’’ said manager Rick Renteria, who wanted to see Garcia go through a normal routine before getting him back into action

“BP, on the bases, take fly balls, so I can have a sense of security of where he’s at,’’ Renteria said. “I don’t want to rush him in there. We’re going to be cautious, and I’m sure at some point during the series he will be available.’’

Garcia also wants to be ready for his first All-Star appearance, which he earned by batting .318/.362/.512 with 11 homers and 51 RBI in the first half.

“Yeah for sure,’’ he said. “That’s one reason we’re being really careful. The knee is something you’ve got to be really careful with. I’ve got to be healthy, not for the All-Star Game but the whole season.

“See how I feel. I’ll see if I can play tomorrow. It has been getting a lot better.’’

Leury update

Outfielder/infielder Leury Garcia is in Arizona working his way back from a sprained finger suffered June 11.

“We’ll continue to monitor him and make sure it’s moving along and getting better,’’ said Renteria, who expects Garcia to make a minor-league rehab stint before returning to the team.

“It’s been a while (three weeks)since he’s been in action, so it’s a strong possibility,’’ Renteria said.

Adam Engel, who batted leadoff, has played center field regularly since Garcia went down and was batting .276 with two homers and four stolen bases while playing the best defense of any Sox outfielder.

Minor honors

Class AA Birmingham left-hander Jordan Guerrero and (low) Class A Kannapolis outfielder Micker Adolfo were named the organization’s minor-league pitcher and player of the month. Adolfo, 20, from the Dominican Republic, batted .267 with eight homers, eight doubles and 20 RBI in 26 games to notch his second consecutive award, as voted by Chicago media.

Guerrero, 23, a 15th-round draft pick in 2012, leads the Southern League in strikeouts. He went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 36‰ innings in June.

This and that

The Sox announced the signing of international free agent shortstop Sydney Pimentel, 16, out of the Dominican Republic.

“Sydney is a natural shortstop with a physical frame,” said Marco Paddy, the Sox’ special assistant to the general manager of international operations. “He possess a solid bat with surprising power from both sides of the plate.”

Pimentel, who signed for $300,000, according to Baseball America, is the second player to ink a deal during the international period that began July 2, following Venezuelan catcher Jefferson Mendoza.

• Class AAA Charlotte first baseman Danny Hayes was added to the International League All-Star team.

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Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com