White Sox, Twins resume Thursday with Chicago aiming to end skid (May 11, 2017)
CHICAGO -- With his team scuffling and in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria is attempting to stay about his business as much as possible.
The White Sox have struggled to score runs at times, which has caused them to drop to under .500 heading into Thursday's series finale against the Minnesota Twins. Wednesday's game was cancelled because of rain and will be made up as part of a straight doubleheader on Aug. 21.
Phil Hughes (4-1) will take the mound for the Twins while the White Sox will counter with Derek Holland (3-2) Thursday when Chicago will look to rediscover the win column for the first time since May 4.
For his part, Renteria is expecting his team to stay the course.
"I think obviously there's an ebb and flow in the game of baseball, we all know it, everybody's seen it," Renteria said Wednesday. "Everybody takes a different tack (to dealing with struggles). I think these guys, personally I just try to stay as relaxed as possible and stay as positive as possible because it's not something to truly panic over.
"I think it's just a part of the game and you know you're going to get through it."
The Twins enter Thursday's game having won four of their last six games. Offensive production hasn't been as much of an issue for Minnesota as it has been for the White Sox of late.
Minnesota's offense should be more at full strength as third baseman Miguel Sano returns to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension on Tuesday. Second baseman Brian Dozier (sprained ankle) could also return for the first time since Friday. Manager Paul Molitor said Dozier was available on Wednesday, but that he was leaning toward not using him because of the weather conditions.
But as Minnesota attempts to keep its winning ways going, making adjustments as needed will be part of the plan. On Wednesday, the Twins added depth to their bullpen when they claimed left-hander Adam Wilk off waivers from the New York Mets.
To make room on their 25-man roster, the Twins optioned right-hander Drew Rucinski to Triple-A Rochester. Molitor said Wilk will be likely be used in the bullpen despite the Twins attempting to firm up their starting rotation over the next couple of days.
Wilk went 2-3 with a 5.91 ERA in six starts at Triple-A Las Vegas this season. In 32 innings, he struck out 29 and walked five. He made an emergency start on Sunday for the Mets and gave up five earned runs and three home runs over 3 2/3 innings.
While the Twins attempt to get their pitching in order, Molitor said that his team's defense has been solid enough to keep his team on the winning side of the .500 mark.
"We've played well at times, but there's a lot of things that we can do better," Molitor said Wednesday. "I think these guys know how we're trying to defend people and what we're trying to do to at least increase our chances of getting outs and so we all just kind of work together."
