Odds 'n Ends

Last night, White Sox rookie catcher Carlos Perez faced Padres’ closer Josh Hader, he of the 1.16 ERA and thirty-two saves, in the bottom of the ninth and the Sox trailing, 3-1. Perez hit his first major-league homerun, something to keep in mind come spring training, when auditions take place to see who replaces Yasmani Grandal. Dylan Cease gave up one run in five innings of work, striking out seven, walking two. Cease was saddled with the loss because he couldn’t stop bouncing pitches; the one run was set up by two wild pitches in the fifth, the first coming on strike three to Matthew Batten. The ball bounced so far away from catcher Korey Lee that Batten ended up on second base. Another wild pitch put him at third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly from Xander Bogaerts. Cease needed 104 pitches to work five innings. Yoan Moncada homered in the bottom of the eighth for the Sox first run. Then, with two runners on, one out and a run in in the ninth, Hader fell behind Moncada, 3-0, only to work the count full. Moncada grounded into a double play to end the game. Jake Burger drove in the tying run for the Mariners in the eighth inning of their 4-3 win over the Pirates A stopped clock gets it right twice a day, sort of like Jerry Reinsdorf saying he won’t sign pitchers to ten-year contracts, or, in the case of Carlos Rodon, six years at $162 million. Last night in Kansas City, Rodon failed to record an out in the bottom of the first, giving up six hits and two walks before manager Aaron Boone pulled him. Rodon ends the season with a 3-8 record and 6.85 ERA. That’s James Shields’ bad.