White Sox lose fourth in row; Renteria ejected

ATLANTA — The last reminder of the White Sox’ failed pursuit of Manny Machado left the premises Friday with a ho-hum shrug with the news that veteran outfielder Jon Jay will undergo surgery to repair a torn muscle in his right hip.

Jay, a friend of Machado, played in 47 games after signing a one-year, $4 million deal as the Sox pursued Machado over the winter. The Sox also traded for Machado’s brother-in-law, Yonder Alonso, in part to become more appealing to Machado, who then signed with the Padres.

Both moves were busts. The Sox’ Opening Day cleanup hitter, Alonso struggled with a .178/.275/.301 hitting line and seven homers in 67 games before he was released July 3. Jay didn’t get on the field until June 24 and won’t play in September. While batting .267 with no home runs, he played the outfield with limited range and, in the view of some, took at-bats from younger players in a rebuilding season.

Outfielder Ryan Cordell, who grounded out as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning of the Sox’ 10-7 loss to the Braves on Friday night at SunTrust Park, was recalled from Class AAA Charlotte to take Jay’s place on the 25-man roster.

Cordell batted for Ivan Nova (9-11), an offseason acquisition with no ties to Machado who entered as one of the hottest pitchers in baseball but was clubbed for five runs in four innings. Former Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, whom the Sox declined to tender a contract to in 2015, had the big blow in a four-run second — a three-run homer.

“Not good,” said Nova, who entered the game with a 0.94 ERA in his previous seven starts. “I didn’t have my A-game today. Not a good day.”

As the Sox opened a seven-game trip, their first 13 batters were retired by Braves lefty Max Fried (15-4), who struck out 11 while allowing four runs (three earned) in six innings.

Welington Castillo’s three-run pinch homer against Braves righty Luke Jackson in the seventh narrowed the score to 6-5 Braves, but normally reliable lefty Aaron Bummer walked the bases loaded before righty Evan Marshall allowed a two-run single to Adeiny Hechavarria.

During the pitching change, Sox manager Rick Renteria was ejected by plate umpire Brian Knight for disputing what he thought was a missed third strike during Flowers’ at-bat — Bummer’s third walk.

“That was a big pitch, and we didn’t get the call,” said Renteria, who has been tossed seven times this season. “He had every right to eject me.”

The Braves scored two in the eighth against Alex Colome, and the Sox got two in the ninth on Leury Garcia’s two-run single.

Jay was sidelined with a hip injury during spring training. It was difficult to diagnose at first, affected other areas of his core, required much work and patience in order for him to get back on the field and ultimately won the battle over his 34-year-old body.

“At the end, he and all the powers that be within his group decided he wanted to get it fixed,” Renteria said. “He gave us some good at-bats and played some solid defense for us when we used him. It’s one of those things where I’m sure he would have wanted to continue but felt at this time that it was probably best to get it corrected.”

Cordell, 27, is batting .226 with six homers in 82 games this season.