Jibber-jabber

The White Sox stranded 13 base runners yesterday afternoon in their 4-0 loss to the Cardinals; along the way, Sox hitters went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Carlos Rodon got stuck with the loss, giving up one run ( a homerun) on one hit against no walks and ten strikeouts in six innings. I hate it when good pitching goes wasted. Here's why—pitchers will be tempted to press. Consider that in his previous start against the Yankees, Rodon went six scoreless innings while striking out thirteen. And what does he get for his efforts? A no-decision and a loss. A little voice may tell him to throw the ball through the wall if he wants to win his next start. Disregard that voice, Carlos. And then we have the future ex-manager talking jibber-jabber after the game. “We had to create those chances, so obviously our guys were working the at-bats,” Tony La Russa was quoted in today’s Tribune. “Just couldn’t break through.” Right, and twenty-game losers must be pretty good pitchers or else their managers wouldn’t send them out there all the time. La Russa jibber seems to be working on reporters to the point nobody’s noticed how the Sox manager has fallen in love with pitcher Jose Ruiz, who has a 7.71 ERA over his last seven games. Ruiz took a 2-0 game in the ninth and proceeded to give up three hits and a walk along with two runs. Me, I’d rather lose 2-0 than 4-0. Maybe the skipper knows better. Beat reporters may also want to take a look at what’s happening in the Sox minor-league system, where only one of four teams is over .500. Low-A Kannapolis comes in at 2-18 (no, that’s not a typo) while Triple-A Charlotte sports a 7-13 mark. (High-A Winston-Salem is .500, Double-A Birmingham 13-7.) Long story short, GM Rick Hahn may be back to drafting the wrong players, and don’t expect much help from the farm clubs this year. Please heal, Eloy and Luis and Adam and…