Eloy Jimenez out 4-6 weeks after undergoing appendectomy; White Sox fall to Reds

CINCINNATI — The White Sox are 11-23 after a 5-3 loss to the Reds on Saturday night, and if you thought things couldn’t get worse, think again.

After experiencing abdominal pain Friday night and into the next morning, slugger Eloy Jimenez underwent an appendectomy and will be out four to six weeks.

Jimenez was expected to be discharged from Good Samaritan Hospital later Saturday night, the Sox announced after their loss. Manager Pedro Grifol said he received word about Jimenez during the game.

“Those things are scary, but it’s not just that,” Grifol said. “He is our three-, four-hole hitter. He was swinging the bat really well.”

Jimenez is batting .258/.321/.423 with four home runs in 25 games and will go on the injured list with an eight-game hitting streak. He was 14-for-33 (.424) with two homers, eight RBI, six runs scored and a 1.109 OPS during the stretch. With Luis Robert Jr., who reached base four times with two hits and two hit-by-pitches, coming out of his slump, Grifol was envisioning a more potent lineup than the Sox were featuring during a disastrous April.

“Being able to have those two guys swinging the bat at the same time and a couple of other guys, and with [Yoan] Moncada doing his [minor-league] rehab, all that stuff is promising. Life deals you stuff you’ve got to deal with. We’ve got to move on.”

In Jimenez’s absence, catcher Yasmani Grandal was the designated hitter and batted fourth with Seby Zavala catching. Hanser Alberto homered in the second inning and Zavala, snapping an 0-for-19 skid, homered in the fourth against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo.

Zavala’s blast, his second of the season, gave Sox starter Mike Clevinger a 3-1 lead. But Clevinger tried elevating a fastball but mislocated it at the belt on the inner half of the plate in the fifth, and TJ Friedl cranked it into the right-field seats for a three-run homer and a 4-3 Reds lead.

“It’s kind of been the same this year: One inning gets away from me,” Clevinger said. “I’ve been through this before in my career, one mental lapse. It’s something that’s going to have to be corrected.”

Clevinger struck out seven, walked one and allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.

Friedl tripled to the wall against Gregory Santos in the seventh, scoring Jonathan India for a two-run lead.

The Sox need to win the rubber game Sunday to capture only their second series of the season. And they’ll have to do it without Jimenez.

“This is nothing new for this team, to have to battle against some adversity,” Clevinger said. “I hope everything goes well with [Jimenez’s] procedure. I just want to see him back here. He changes our lineup; that’s for sure. But it’s next guy up around here.”

“It’s another hurdle for us,” Gavin Sheets said. “Losing his presence, it’s tough. How talented he is and the way he’s swinging the bat. It sucks. It sucks for all of us. It sucks for him — he was excited to get back to form, and we really need him.”

NOTE: The Sox requested unconditional release waivers on left-hander Jake Diekman, who was designated for assignment Tuesday.