White Sox Beat Padres, 8-3
PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Leury Garcia, Jimmy Rollins and Jose Abreu homered in the third inning in the Chicago White Sox's 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday.
Garcia and Abreu hit solo shots and Rollins a two-run homer to knock out Padres starter James Shields. Shield faced 18 hitters, and nine reached base during his 2 2-3 innings.
In the fifth, Courtney Hawkins hit the White Sox' fourth homer of the game.
Chicago added a three-run, fourth inning on an RBI single from Matt Davidson and Dioner Navarro's two-run double.
Lefty Carlos Rodon went four strong innings for the Sox, and picked up his second win of the spring. Facing two over the minimum, Rodon allowed two hits, walked none and struck out three. The left-hander kept his spring ERA at 0.00.
Coming off a 9-6 season and 3.75 ERA in 23 starts, Rodon said his emphasis in spring training is location and refining his change-up.
"At this point, I want to stretch out my starts, work on fastball command and the change," he said. "It was nice to get that early offense, because that allows you to settle down and become comfortable."
Behind 8-0 at one point, the Padres rallied for three in the sixth. The inning was highlighted by RBI doubles from Cory Spangenburg and Will Myers.
STARTING TIME
In seven innings this spring, Rodon has surrendered three hits, one walk and struck out five hitters. Against the Padres, Rodon threw 61 pitches, and noted, "in the four innings (Friday), I felt fine and felt strong." Rodon then went to the bullpen, and threw another 10 pitches.
San Diego manager Andy Green said he was satisfied with Shields' outing. In his second start of the spring Friday, Shields allowed six hits, four runs, walked two and his spring ERA ballooned to 7.71.
"(Shields) began to drop the angle on his fast ball, and the ball came in to left-handed hitters," Green said. "He usually gets stronger toward the end of March, and he'll be fine."
TRAINING ROOM
The White Sox's Adam LaRoche continues to nurse back spasms. The veteran first baseman is listed as day-today. La Roche last played March 5 against Kansas City.
San Diego was without veteran infielder Adam Rosales, who returned to the team after the birth of his second child. Rosales went back to his home town of Cleveland for the birth. Rosales rejoined the Padres in time for Friday's game, and went 0-for-2 against the White Sox.
With the retirement of Skip Schumaker earlier this week, Rosales is given a strong chance to make the 25-man opening day roster.
ROSTER CUTS
Both team reduced their rosters Friday.
The White Sox optioned pitcher Chris Beck and outfielder Daniel Fields to AAA Charlotte. Pitchers Colin Kieven, Will Lamb, Peter Tago, Nik Turley and Josh Wall along with catcher Omar Narvaez were reassigned to their minor league camp.
The Padres optioned pitcher Cesar Vargas to AAA Ed Paso, and assigned pitchers Luis Diaz, Johnny Hellwig and Carlos Pimentel to their minor league camp.
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