WHITE SOX HEADLINES of APRIL 7, 2016 “Rodon
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WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF APRIL 7, 2016 “Rodon outdueled by Gray in Oakland” … Scott Merkin and Jane Lee, MLB.com “Rodon settles in after early runs in ’16 debut” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Danks focused on present as contract year begins” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Garcia isn’t content to solely serve as DH” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Graveman, Latos face off in A’s-White Sox finale” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Sonny Gray leads Athletics past Carlos Rodon, White Sox” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “White Sox veterans have provided instant boost for Abreu, Eaton” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “John Danks looks for colder start to 2016 than Trevor Story’s” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “Todd Frazier already sees White Sox building character” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “Chance the Rapper designs new limited edition White Sox caps” … Staff, CSN Chicago “Wednesday’s recap: Athletics 2, White Sox 1” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Sonny Gray returns from illness to shut down White Sox, spoil Carlos Rodon’s debut” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “White Sox’s Brett Lawrie takes off-field training seriously” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Robin Ventura likes reconfigured White Sox outfield” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Frugal investment in Jimmy Rollins already paying dividends for White Sox” … David Haugh, Chicago Tribune “Chance the Rapper, White Sox’s answer to Drake, unveils redesigned caps” … Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune “White Sox beat Cubs – when it comes to beer in 2016” … Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune “Cubs, White Sox vendors hope big leagues boost sales” … Greg Trotter, Chicago Tribune “Athletics, Gray defeat White Sox 2-1” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “White Sox notes: Lawrie, Garcia, Jackson” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Rollins makes instant impact on, off field for White Sox” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Chicago White Sox fall short 2-1 at Oakland” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “White Sox shut down by Sonny Gray in 2-1 loss to A’s” … Rick Eymer, Associated Press “Oakland 2, White Sox 1: In loss, Rodon shows why he was worth hype” … Jon Greenberg, The Athletic “Chance the Rapper and the baseball experiment” … Jon Greenberg, The Athletic “White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti predicted his future in grade School” … Justin Breen, DNA Info “Chance the Rapper designs limited-edition White Sox hats” … Ed Komenda, DNA Info “Sources: Chance the Rapper near club ambassador deal with White Sox” … Darren Rovell, ESPN “What to eat at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, 2016 edition” … Ashok Selvam, Chicago Eater “A guide to the new food at White Sox games” … Maggie Hendricks, USA Today “How a Major League Baseball stadium decides what crazy food fans will eat” … Maggie Hendricks, USA Today “Chance the Rapper, the new face of the White Sox” … Danny Ecker, Crain’s Chicago Business “Chance the Rapper has redesigned the White Sox cap” … Zach Long, Time Out Chicago “Chance the Rapper narrates Chicago White Sox video, redesigns hat” … Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork “Chance the Rapper narrated the Chicago White Sox’ new team video and redesigned their hats” … Chris Mench, Complex “Chicago White Sox - PlayerWatch” … Reuters “30 teams in 30 days: Chicago White Sox find excellence in efficiency” … Josh Benjamin, Forbes “Chance the Rapper is now a designer (for the Chicago White Sox)” … Madeline Roth, MTV.com “Chance the Rapper designs new White Sox hats” … NBC Chicago “White Sox nearing deal with Chance the Rapper for ambassador role” … Bernie Augustine, New York Daily News “Chance the Rapper designed new White Sox hats” … Kenny Ducey, Sports Illustrated “White Sox hit homer by teaming with Chance the Rapper” … Steven J. Gaither, Omnisport “Report: Chance the Rapper nearing deal with White Sox” … Jack McNeil, Baseball Essential “Chance the Rapper invades White Sox dugout to promote redesigned ‘SoX’ caps” … Dan Carson, FOX Sports Rodon outdueled by Gray in Oakland By Scott Merkin and Jane Lee / MLB.com | April 6th, 2016 OAKLAND -- Sonny Gray outdueled Carlos Rodon, firing seven innings of one-run ball with just three hits allowed in his season debut. Mark Canha homered in support of the ace as the A's pulled out a 2-1 victory over the White Sox at the Coliseum on Wednesday for their first win of the season. "Sonny was Sonny," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We've seen him pitch that type of game often. Especially when we lost a couple of tough ones, I think he gets even more inspired to be the guy to go out there and get deep in the game and give us a chance to win. He did." Gray, who was scratched from his Opening Day start on Monday because of the flu, worked around four walks and struck out five, the lone run off the right-hander coming in the third inning when Austin Jackson doubled and later scored on Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly. Right-hander Ryan Madson notched the save with a scoreless ninth. Ryan Madson strikes out Alex Avila to earn his first save with the Athletics "It was a big game for us," Gray said. "You definitely don't want to start 0-3, and we kind of needed somewhat of a deeper start." "We were chasing some stuff away. He had good movement on that when he needed to," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Gray. "Caught us being aggressive and wasn't throwing strikes when we were looking for strikes. He probably wasn't feeling that great but he's still a very talented pitcher and he has great stuff.” The left-handed Rodon also made it through seven innings, yielding seven hits -- including a single to Billy Burns on the first pitch of the game. Khris Davis followed with his own base hit, and Jed Lowrie got the A's on the board with a sacrifice fly, giving him five RBIs in this four-game series, which concludes at 12:35 p.m. PT on Thursday and will be available free on MLB.TV. Carlos Rodon works seven solid innings, surrendering only two runs on seven hits and striking out six MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Platoon power: Melvin has promised to find at-bats for Canha against left-handers, and on Wednesday that meant a rare start in right field, just the second of Canha's career. Canha made good on the decision by coming up with Oakland's first home run of the season, a solo shot to right field off Rodon with one out in the second on the first pitch. Canha hit 16 home runs as a rookie last year. Be aggressive: The White Sox scored a run in the third on Rollins' sacrifice fly, but it was more a tribute to good fundamental baseball. Jackson opened with a double, moved to third on Adam Eaton's grounder to second and got the go-ahead from third-base coach Joe McEwing on Rollins' short fly to Davis in left. Davis' throw was well off the mark. Axford delivers: The A's found themselves on the wrong end of a challenge in the eighth inning when White Sox leadoff man Eaton was confirmed safe at first base on an infield single, but right-hander John Axford managed to wipe him off the bags anyway, by getting Rollins to ground into a critical double play that capped an eight-pitch battle. "Those are veteran guys that aren't afraid to pitch with some guys on base," Melvin said. "Ax has been really good about being quicker to the plate. There was a time when he had trouble slide-stepping and being quick to the plate, and he had a couple base runners on that he needed to be quick to the plate to hold the running game down, and he did. Very effective." Missed opportunities: Singles from Eaton and Melky Cabrera put the leadoff hitter on base in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, for the White Sox in a one-run game. But Ventura decided against the bunt in both cases. Rollins hit into a double play in the eighth, after trying to go the other way to left against a pronounced shift, and the White Sox never got a runner to second in the ninth, with catcher Alex Avila striking out to end the game. "On the road, you want to try to get a little more than that," Ventura said. "You're looking to win it and we had guys coming up that we liked. We thought about it, but we wanted to get a couple there." QUOTABLE "He's a [darn] good pitcher. I asked him, 'How are you feeling?' and he said, 'Not too good.' It didn't seem that way." -- Avila, on Gray WHAT'S NEXT White Sox: Signed to a one-year, $3 million deal as a free agent, Mat Latos provides the right-handed relief among a quartet of southpaws in the White Sox rotation for the finale of this four-game set, which begins at 2:35 p.m. CT on Thursday and is available free on MLB.TV. A's: Right-hander Kendall Graveman makes his season debut Thursday, and he'll be looking for his first win since July 4. Graveman lost each of his final five decisions last year before succumbing to an oblique strain that prematurely ended his season. The series finale is available live for free on MLB.TV. at 12:35 p.m. PT. Rodon settles in after early runs in ’16 debut By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | April 6th, 2016 OAKLAND -- Allowing two runs on seven hits over seven innings served as a solid season debut for Carlos Rodon on Wednesday night against the A's at the Coliseum, especially since the A's scored both of those runs in the first two innings.