White Sox lefty Manny Banuelos exits with strained shoulder in 9-0 loss

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Chicago White Sox starter Manny Banuelos pitches against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks) ORG XMIT: CXS102

Whenever the rebuilding White Sox go on a little run, talk pops up about whether they have the goods to sneak up and compete in a weak American League Central.

The better question would be: Do they have the goods even to be a .500 team?

The Sox were two games away from the break-even point and riding a three-game winning streak before the Indians routed them 9-0 on Tuesday, smashing five home runs in the first six innings.

Making matters considerably worse — and creating a hole with no immediate plug to fill it — left-hander Manny Banuelos left with a strained shoulder in the fifth and likely is headed to the injured list. As it was, Banuelos was struggling to hold the place in the rotation he was given when right-hander Ervin Santana was released.

Banuelos (2-3, 7.26 ERA) was trailing 4-0 when he was pulled, having allowed homers to Roberto Perez, Jake Bauers and Jordan Luplow (his third against Banuelos in six days). Banuelos was charged with five runs, four hits and three walks.

So who will fill the spot in the rotation? There is very little to choose from in the way of effective or healthy pitchers at Class AAA Charlotte besides prized right-hander Dylan Cease, whom the Sox refuse to rush along. Cease figures to pitch in the majors this season, but not now.

‘‘I’m sure not unique to that particular situation,’’ manager Rick Renteria said. ‘‘We’ll manage it to the best of our ability. There’s nothing to point a finger at, no excuses to be made. It is what it is, and we’ll do the best we can to find the pieces that continue to help us build and get better.’’

General manager Rick Hahn might be forced to dip into the Class AA ranks or look outside the organization to patch things up.

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‘‘We have had some conversations with other clubs about potential fits,’’ Hahn said Monday. ‘‘But as will come as no surprise to you, there’s not a great market, not a very fluid market for starting pitching right now.’’

Banuelos’ injury came a day after the Sox announced Opening Day starter Carlos Rodon would have Tommy John surgery on his left elbow Wednesday. The Sox also said reliever Nate Jones had surgery on his right forearm and is out for the season.

‘‘It’s tough,’’ catcher James McCann said. ‘‘But that’s part of the game. Every team goes through it.’’

As bad as those setbacks have been, as well as Tommy John surgeries for pitching prospects Michael Kopech and Dane Dunning, Hahn said he is ‘‘somewhat pleased’’ with where the Sox (19-22) are record-wise.

He’ll be especially pleased if the record is good because of the way building-block players are performing. For what it’s worth, Banuelos never figured to be one of those.

‘‘At the end of the year, it’s going to be about how we got to that win total,’’ Hahn said. ‘‘Is it going to be because guys like [Lucas] Giolito and Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada showed that progress, showed you that these are potentially key pieces of championship clubs? Or is it because some veteran types that we picked up along the way had solid seasons and helped us sustain a certain level of performance against a league that may potentially be down a little bit?’’

The Indians improved to 22-19, second behind the Twins in the division. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (4-3) dominated the Sox, as he always does. He pitched seven scoreless innings to improve to 7-0 with a 0.73 ERA in his last nine starts against them.

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