KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Sox put more than two runs on the scoreboard for the first time since the All-Star break, but with right-hander Ivan Nova not being up to the task, it wasn’t enough to halt a season-high six-game losing streak.
Trailing 6-0, the Sox got a two-run homer from Ryan Goins after he was called up from Class AAA Charlotte to take injured Eloy Jimenez’s spot on the roster and a three-run pinch homer from AJ Reed. But Nova had dug too deep a hole, allowing six runs, six hits and five walks — one shy of his career high — in 4‰ innings.
“I think we’re scheduled to play tomorrow,” manager Rick Renteria said of his team’s worst stretch of the season that dropped it to 42-50 after a 42-44 mark at the All-Star break. “We have to keep battling.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us.”
Left-hander Danny Duffy breezed through the first three innings, was helped when Leury Garcia got doubled off second on James McCann’s infield liner in the fourth and was harmed only by Goins’ homer in the sixth.
Goins arrives from Charlotte, homers
Goins started at shortstop and homered and singled after having his contract purchased from Charlotte. He had played nearly 500 major-league games with the Blue Jays and Royals but spent the first half of the season at Charlotte, hitting 10 homers with a .322/.406/.531 slash line in 316 plate appearances.
The left-handed-hitting Goins, 31, could get an extended run at shortstop with Garcia moving back to the outfield. Garcia took over at shortstop when Tim Anderson suffered a high ankle sprain in Boston on June 25.
“Any day where you get to put on a major-league uniform is going to be a good day, so I’m excited,” Goins said.
Trade watch
Mounting losses won’t necessarily thrust the Sox into seller mode as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, general manager Rick Hahn said.
Hahn said trade dialogue with other GMs has picked up since the All-Star break, but it would take enticing offers for him to make a deal.
“It’s not something we’re necessarily proactively out there driving on,” Hahn said. “It’s something other clubs are going to have to motivate us to get done.”
Relief pitchers are always in demand, and Alex Colome and Aaron Bummer are under club control beyond this season.
“We’re in a position where we remain committed to the long term,” Hahn said. ‘‘And some of the pieces that may be appealing to other clubs are potential fits for us for the long term, as well. So you have to balance those two interests against each other and make that assessment before you make any moves.”
This and that
Left-hander Ross Detwiler will start the series finale Thursday, not Dylan Covey, who worked an inning of relief Tuesday. Covey could be the first option in relief, Renteria said.
† Anderson is improving and will stay with the team through the road trip. After getting re-evaluated Monday in Chicago, the Sox will have a better sense of timing for his minor-league rehab assignment.
† Juan Minaya was outrighted to Charlotte.
