White Sox scoreless streak hits 23 innings in loss to Indians

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The White Sox haven't scored in their last 23 innings and only have had one runner reach second base in their last 20 frames, a stretch of offensive futility manager Rick Renteria said can be used as a learning experience. 

The White Sox managed just four baserunners and were shut out, 7-0, by a dominant Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians Saturday evening in front of 32,044 at Guaranteed Rate Field. While the White Sox have run into some top pitching over their last three games — Masahiro Tanaka, Corey Kluber and Carrasco, the latter of whom fired eight shutout innings Saturday — Renteria admitted some of his hitters have been pressing lately, too. 

"For me, it’s about our learning curve now and understanding that (those pitchers) are really executing and doing what they want to do," Renteria said. "And we want to make sure that we give ourselves a chance by staying and trusting with the approaches that we take into the at-bats and try not to focus too much on the results and stay focused on the approaches and we know that the results will take care of themselves. But I know the guys are wanting to get the big hit or wanting to drive the ball out of the ballpark as opposed to just staying very simple. I think it’s a great learning lesson for all of us as a club."

The lone offensive bright spot came in the seventh inning, when Jacob May — pinch-hitting for Melky Cabrera, who jammed his wrist chasing a foul ball but had X-Rays come back negative — connected for a leadoff single, the first hit of his career. The 25-year-old began his career hitless in his first 26 at-bats, and upon returning to the dugout let out a cathartic yell into his helmet and was mobbed by his teammates. After the game, he said it felt like he got "Harambe" off his back. 

Mike Pelfrey, replacing the injured James Shields, allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits with one walk and one strikeout in 4 1/3 innings. The White Sox didn’t want to bring up one of their prize pitching prospects in Triple-A for only two or three starts, so it was the 33-year-old Pelfrey who got the start.

Edwin Encarnacion blasted a two-run home run on a two-out, 0-2 pitch in the first inning, and was tagged for two unearned runs in the fifth on a Carlos Santana double and Francisco Lindor sacrifice fly.

Cleveland tacked on more runs on Michael Brantley’s two-run home run in the seventh and Jose Ramirez’s solo home run in the eighth off Michael Ynoa, who replaced Zach Putnam after the right-hander left the game due to tenderness in his right elbow. The White Sox announced Putnam is day-to-day due to the issue, though Renteria said the issue was more with Putnam's tricep, not his elbow. 

Tyler Saladino singled twice and Jose Abreu drew a walk to account for the other baserunners the White Sox managed against Carrasco.

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