Pitching against White Sox ‘awesome’ for Mundelein’s Ryan Borucki

When Ryan Borucki faced Tim Anderson to begin the bottom of the first, it was a special moment for the Blue Jays left-hander.

“I mean, it was awesome,’’ Borucki said. ‘‘That first pitch, I kind of let loose and then I had to settle down a little bit. It was awesome. I couldn’t have pictured it any better. So many people I saw warming up, and when I was coming off the mound, so many people I know from my hometown, parents and everything. It was definitely a dream.”

Pitching in front of an estimated 100 to 150 friends, family members and former teammates, the Mundelein product went six innings, allowed two runs and struck out five. He said it was weird pitching against the team he grew up rooting for.

“The last couple of days, I was looking up to where I used to sit as a kid,’’ Borucki said. ‘‘It’s crazy to think I’m actually here and got to play today against the White Sox. It brought back some memories, definitely, when they came out today and ‘Thunderstruck’ was playing. That was a big thing growing up. It definitely put chills on the back of my neck. To go out there today and pitch against them was awesome.”

Taken in the 15th round of the 2012 draft, Borucki has a 2.83 ERA but is still waiting for his first win. One culprit is a lack of run support: Toronto has given him one run or fewer in five of his last six starts.

“My time will come sooner or later,” Borucki said. “I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Anderson at short

Manager Rick Renteria briskly answered a question about whether Anderson will still be at shortstop when the Sox are ready to contend.

“I see him as a shortstop, so he’s doing a nice job for us now,” Renteria said. “I don’t see any reason why he can’t continue to improve.”

Anderson has shown some improvement in the field recently. He has only two errors this month and one since July 10. Renteria said it’s key for Anderson to be proficient at squaring up the ball and getting it with one hand when necessary. Another key is the correct angle on throws, something he has gone over with the coaching staff.

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“He’s attacking balls, he’s reaching balls that most guys probably won’t get to,” Renteria said. “It’s nice to see him continuing to perform, and hopefully, knock on wood, he continues to develop.”

Minor matter

The Sox acquired left-handed minor-league reliever Caleb Frare from the Yankees for $1.5 million in international signing-bonus pool money. Frare, 25, is 4-1 with an ERA of 0.81 in 32 appearances between Class AA and Class AAA. He is headed to Class AAA Charlotte.

This and that

Renteria said the Sox don’t have a contingency plan for Tuesday in case scheduled starter James Shields is traded before the deadline.

† Tom Paciorek sat in with Ken “Hawk” Harrelson and Steve Stone during the TV broadcast.

† Before leaving in the ninth inning with a left leg injury, Toronto’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had three hits for his 11th consecutive multihit game, tying Tony Perez (1973) for the longest streak in the last 50 seasons.