Aggressive De Aza, Alexei must learn to give way

CHICAGO -- Shortstop Alexei Ramirez and left fielder Alejandro De Aza collided once while going for a popup during Wednesday's 8-2 victory, causing the ball to drop out of Ramirez's glove, although it still resulted in a force at second. They had one other near-collision later in the game.

Some may solely blame these miscues on De Aza, who has had an uneven season defensively in left. But manager Robin Ventura pointed to the aggressiveness from Ramirez as another factor.

"It will happen with a guy, especially a shortstop who is in charge of the infield who doesn't want to give way," Ventura said. "He needs to understand that any time an outfielder calls him off, he needs to get out of the way.

"They need to understand that they need to peel off and let the outfielder get it. They have that responsibility. It happens to every team I would say five times a year."

Ventura doesn't have a pure late-inning defensive outfield replacement with the way the roster is constructed. It showed during the ninth inning Monday, when Moises Sierra lost a ball in the lights in right and De Aza couldn't grab Alex Avila's long drive to the wall in left.

"Right now we have one, which is Sierra, so we don't have a ton of outfielders sitting around," Ventura said. "We'd like it to be better than it was the other night. But right now that's what it is."