Yankees keep White Sox from going over .500

Reynaldo Lopez allowed five runs in six innings, and the White Sox fell back to 34-35. Catcher Welington Castillo and manager Rick Renteria were ejected in the eighth inning.

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Sox manager Rick Renteria gets ejected in the eighth inning Saturday night.

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A day after the biggest game of his young career, Eloy Jimenez was asked about what he needs to work on next. Since coming up to the White Sox, Jimenez has adjusted to -major-league pitching and emerged as another threat in the lineup.

His answer, however, could work for the entire team.

“Keep going, just keep going,” Jimenez said before the Sox lost 8-4 to the Yankees, snapping their three-game winning streak. “Keep enjoying the game and keep working hard.”

Saturday wasn’t too enjoyable for the Sox, who lost in front of 36,074 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

While their recent surge has been fueled by parts of their future, the Sox have been waiting on Reynaldo Lopez. After Lopez’s quality start against the Royals, the Sox were hoping that performance would carry over.

It would have if not for the fourth inning, when Lopez surrendered four runs, including a two-run home run to Gleyber Torres. Overall, he pitched six innings and allowed five runs in a game that began 32 minutes late because of rain.

“The numbers didn’t look good,” manager Rick Renteria said. “Yeah, we lost the ballgame, but there’s hope for this young man. He’s going to be pretty good. Our patience and his patience to get over the hump are going to be very, very important. I’m not giving up on him.”

Lopez also felt good about his outing. He thought he commanded his pitches and put them where he wanted. He even thought the changeup Torres hit out was a good pitch.

“I don’t know how Torres hit that homer because that was a good pitch,” Lopez said. “That was a good changeup, low [and outside], and he was able to hit it. I just tip my cap to him.”

In the top of the eighth, catcher Welington Castillo was ejected by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, and Renteria followed by also getting kicked out. 

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox scored four times, capped by James McCann’s three-run homer off reliever Jonathan Holder.

But the Sox couldn’t get closer, and they fell one game below .500 at 34-35. With a victory, the Sox would’ve gone over .500 in June for the first time since 2016. 

Their rebuild is far from complete, obviously, but the Sox have shown great progress.

Jimenez’s two-homer game Friday was the latest sign. Lucas Giolito has blossomed into an All-Star, and Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada look like they could form the left side of the Sox’ infield for years.

And it’s those young players who’ve helped the Sox get to the cusp of the wild-card race. 

“It’s important because they’re the ones that are going to be here, hopefully, for the duration,” Renteria said. “I think all of our guys try to respect everybody; they try to respect the game. They want to play the game with some joy and exuberance, and I think everybody enjoys watching them play.”

And, hey, maybe somehow they can turn this recent run into contention. At least for now, they aren’t ruling anything out.

“We just hit .500,” Giolito said. “We’re playing really good baseball. If we continue to play the way we’re playing, we’re going to be right there.” 

Indeed, the Sox look like they’re on the upswing. 

“You can take learning experiences whether you win or lose,” McCann said. “Do I think a game like tonight reminds us we’re supposed to be in a rebuilding mode? No. We still expect to win, and we’re going to show up tomorrow with that mentality.”

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