ST. LOUIS — The White Sox have an issue with one-run games. They lose them. A lot of them.
And now they may have an issue with 22-year-old second baseman Yoan Moncada, jewel of the future, who left Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat against the Cardinals with tightness in his left hamstring. It’s the same hamstring that tightened up during a game less than two weeks ago.
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Moncada had a pronounced limp after the game, but it was his right foot that was causing it. He fouled a ball off the top of the foot in the first inning and had difficulty running the bases after eventually walking in that at-bat.
“It’s nothing serious,” he said, through an interpreter, about the hamstring. “It’s just a little tightness.”
Moncada went from first to third on Yolmer Sanchez’s RBI single in the eighth that finally got the Sox on the board. Trayce Thompson replaced Moncada and scored on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly.
But that’s where the rally ended, and three lefty bats in the ninth — Leury Garcia, Omar Narvaez and Daniel Palka, not exactly a murderers’ row — did nothing against the Cardinals’ right-handed closer, Bud Norris.
The Sox were left to swallow yet another one-run loss, bringing their record to 3-9 in those games. The Sox have been on the wrong end of their last six one-run affairs, including Tuesday’s 3-2 walk-off celebration by the Cardinals in the opener of a two-game set.
“Let me put it this way,” Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “We’ve had a ton of one-run losses. We’re probably in a good place because we’re trying to win one-run games a lot, which means we’re in it.”
Far be it from Renteria to take a negative position on anything related to these rebuilding Sox. Like it or not, that’s just not something he’s going to do. Happy days are almost here again, narrow defeats are sweet consolation prizes, etc.
But not all the Sox players agree with Renteria. The team has failed to take advantage of a lot of opportunities, and some players are inclined to admit it. Veteran pitcher James Shields did so Tuesday after the Sox lost a 2-1 lead in the ninth with Joakim Soria on the hill.
“As a team, we’ve got to find ways to win those one-run ballgames,” Shields said. “We need to get better at that as the year goes on.
“The good teams, they win the one-run ballgames. That’s the difference between a winning season and a losing season, I think. And that’s just my opinion, but we’ve just got to bear down and get the job done.”
It’ll be harder to do if they’re without Moncada for any length of time.
“You guys know how it is,” Renteria said. “Let it get through this evening and re-evaluate tomorrow and see where he’s at.”
After their fourth loss in a row, the Sox stand at 8-20 — at 12 games under .500, their low-water mark of the season. And now they head back to Guaranteed Rate for four games against the Twins and two against the Pirates. Each of the Sox’ first two homestands melted down into 1-5 misery.
The record in one-run games at home thus far: also 1-5.
“There are pros and cons [to one-run losses],” shortstop Tim Anderson said. “For the most part, we look at it as we are getting better. We have to be able to close out those close ballgames, but the pitching is doing great and we’re putting together some good [at-bats]. Eventually, we are going to bust through.”
ON DECK
Sox vs. Twins
Thursday: Reynaldo Lopez (0-2, 1.78) vs. Jake Odorizzi (2-2, 3.94), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH/ESPN+, 720-AM.
Friday: Carson Fulmer (2-1, 4.32) vs. Jose Berrios, 7:10, NBCSCH+, 720-AM.
Saturday: TBA vs. Lance Lynn (0-3, 8.37), 6:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 720-AM.
Sunday: James Shields (1-3, 5.35) vs. Kyle Gibson (1-1, 3.38), 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 720-AM.
