Sigh of Relief? Not Much for Cubs, White Sox

April 13, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Sunday smorgasbord: Chicago Cubs manager Rick Renteria removed Jose Veras from his role as the team’s closer on Saturday. The move came less than 12 hours after Renteria had said Veras would remain the Cubs closer. Renteria also said Saturday he has “a lot of confidence” in Veras. Either Renteria is being a.) diplomatic, b.) does not know the meaning of “confidence,” c.) hasn’t figured out his bullpen yet or d.) is learning very quickly what it means to be the manager of a team whose most notable asset is its ballpark. Of course, all of the aforementioned also could be a possible correct explanation.

Playboy’s Nikki Du Plessis. In case you were wondering (and even if you weren’t).

* On the bright (?) side for the Cubs, they scored four runs in seven innings against St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright. On the less-than-bright side for the Cubs, they allowed 10 runs before Wainwright exited.

* Still on the bright (?) side for the Cubs, Chris Rusin pitched well in relief of Carlos Villanueva. He was charged with one run in five innings of three-hit ball (although he did allow two of the runners he inherited to score).

* Encouraging news for the White Sox is the performance of their offense, which scored six runs Saturday against visiting Cleveland. Less encouraging for the Sox: They gave up 12 runs. Sox manager Robin Ventura told starter Felipe Paulino he has to do better. After allowing up six runs in five innings and carrying a 7.98 earned-run average, Paulino has set the bar fairly low for improving.

* More encouraging news for the White Sox: First baseman Jose Abreu is tied for the American League lead in runs batted in (14) and home runs (4). Shortstop Alexei Ramirez is fifth in on-base percentage at .460. You might not want to inquire about most pitching stats, however.

* Ex-Cub of the day: LaTroy Hawkins posted his second save of the season with a perfect ninth inning, including a strikeout (nine of his 11 pitches were strikes), as the Colorado Rockies scored a 1-0 victory at San Francisco.

* The Bulls play the New York Knicks on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Bulls are battling for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday when Atlanta defeated visiting Miami to clinch the No. 8 seed. An uneducated guess (generally the only variety made around here) is the Bulls will prevail vs. the Knicks, although the margin of victory might not be as great as some people might anticipate.

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