Shuck’s sac fly lifts White Sox to 1-0 win over Cubs

The middle of June proved to be a little rocky for Rondon when he surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits in a brief 3 2/3 appearance on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Right-hander Gonzalez Germen, claimed off waivers earlier this week from the Chicago Cubs, was called up by the Colorado Rockies and scheduled to start Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves.

Pinch hitting for the pitcher’s spot, Emilio Bonifacio stepped in looking to bunt his way on.

Carlos Rodon is making his 11th start of his rookie season and is just 1-2 with a 7.32 ERA in his last four starts.

It happened after Hendricks singled with one out and Addison Russell walked. David Robertson picked up his 19th save in 23 chances, striking out Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler in the ninth before second baseman Carlos Sanchez dived to his right to snag Chris Coglan’s liner, ending the game.

Despite Avisail Garcia’s errant throw home after his diving catch in the third, the White Sox were still able to turn a 9-2-6 double play to end that inning. The visit seemed much longer than normal and on the White Sox television broadcast, Steve Stone mentioned that Cooper could be asking about Rodon’s blistered finger and if he could make it past one more batter.

While the players, coaches and the front office see a defense that’s improving, as a group it’s still last in UZR and second to last in defensive runs saved, FanGraphs’ two major advanced defensive metrics.

Maddon has plenty of experience managing against the White Sox, going 30-37 with the Rays from 2006-14. 277 through his first 62 contests. With Adam Eaton at bat and a runner on second with no outs, the lead-off hitter demonstrated how that extra bunting practice paid off this week by laying down a beauty to move Bonifacio to third base.

Melky Cabrera, who homered against the Blue Jays, is slugging. The White Sox are gaining confidence and a solid series against the Cubs could be the momentum shifted they need. Shuck. The next batter, Devon Travis, hit a weak grounder to left side of the infield.

The bullpen was pretty great, too: 3 IP, 1 H, 6 K’s, 1 BB.