White Sox' Michael Kopech struggles in third Cactus League start

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Right-hander Michael Kopech struggled from the beginning in his third Cactus League start, giving up two home runs in the White Sox’ 7-2 loss to the Rockies on Monday.

Laboring through the outing, he allowed four runs, four hits and two walks. Kopech had two strikeouts and threw 60 pitches (32 for strikes) in 2⅓ innings.

“I didn’t have much command for my breaking stuff today, and when I landed a couple, I ended up overemphasizing throwing them for strikes and left them kind of in the middle of the plate,” Kopech said. “After that, I started nibbling a little bit, put myself in a tough situation and had to grind out of it a little bit and didn’t do a great job of it.”

Kopech said he’s trying to find consistency with the breaking ball. He feels good physically but acknowledged that he hasn’t pitched his best this spring. Though the club emphasizes throwing strikes, Kopech is trying to balance that and pitch his game.

“It’s just about knowing yourself, and it’s something that’s been a conversation this camp,” Kopech said. “I’m not necessarily going to be the guy who never walks anybody, so having a walk happen shouldn’t be the end of the world.”

Offensive woes

The Sox are getting on base, but they haven’t been able to capitalize. The game against the Giants on Sunday was a prime example. They went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position against San Francisco, then followed that with a 1-for-6 performance in the loss to the Rockies.

“It’s not random anymore,” manager Pedro Grifol told reporters Monday. “We are aware of it. We were talking about it out there today. We have to understand where everybody is playing, what the situation is.”

Grifol said the team needs to remember how important it is to move guys over.

“From my view, we have to start putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to knowing how to win baseball games and how to put baseball games away,” Grifol said. ‘‘We’ve got to address this thing. It’s happened more than a couple of days already.”

Garcia dealing

Right-hander Deivi Garcia has worked mostly in relief this spring and has been productive.

In five innings, he has struck out six and walked three. He gives the Sox another option out of the bullpen, which has been competitive throughout the spring.

“I want to keep working with the lefties, throw a couple more changeups and the fastball in,” Garcia said.

‘‘I feel good. I can keep working as a reliever, long reliever, short, whatever. That’s going to help me out.”

Rockies 7, Sox 2

Sox pitchers struggled all day, allowing 12 hits and seven walks, though they totaled 14 strikeouts. The Rockies repeatedly jumped on balls for hard contact, dropping the Sox’ spring record to 4-13-1.

• Jake Woodford threw three innings, allowing five hits and two runs. He also had six strikeouts.

• Outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and third baseman Yoan Moncada each had a hit.

• Shortstop Paul DeJong hit his second home run of the spring.

• Catcher Max Stassi drove in a run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning

• On deck: Sox at Reds, 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, Goodyear, Dylan Cease vs. Graham Ashcraft.