MESA, Ariz. -- One bad outing in his first appearance of the spring is not going to affect Joakim Soria's confidence. But even the veteran reliever was pleased with his bounce-back performance Monday.
After Soria failed to record an out among the five Dodgers he faced Friday, the White Sox closer candidate allowed only a swinging-bunt single in his inning of work Monday against the A's.
"This is way better, to record an out," Soria said shortly after his scoreless fourth inning at Hohokam Stadium. "But it's just part of the process of Spring Training. That's the beauty of baseball: You always have a chance to redeem yourself and move forward."
Soria induced a groundout, flyout and pop-out with relative ease. It was a far cry from the two singles, two doubles and home run he gave up three days earlier. And the difference was a simple mechanical adjustment White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper noticed on video.
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Soria was leaning forward slightly last time out. Against the A's, he stood tall on the mound.
"That was perfect. I was going to go to the video room, but he beat me to it," Soria said. "I like that Coop went right away to see what was going on.
"This is the Major Leagues, man. This is not a joke. It's a hard game, and you have to adjust. You have to move forward. If you stay too long with the last outing, you won't have a long career."
'B' game highlights
While prospect Dylan Cease faced the A's, Lucas Giolito took on the Dodgers on a backfield at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. But it was prized prospect Luis Robert who garnered the most attention.
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Robert, who signed for a $26 million bonus last year out of Cuba, doubled sharply down the left-field line on the first pitch from Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the fourth inning. Robert also stole third base off Jansen and added an infield single later in the game.
Robert, who grounded out against Hyun-Jin Ryu in his first at-bat, likely still is a couple years away from the Majors.
Giolito, meanwhile, will be in the thick of the White Sox rotation this season and took another step toward readiness Monday. The big right-hander threw three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and a walk, and struck out a pair.
On the decision for Giolito to pitch in the 'B' game as opposed to facing the A's in Mesa, manager Rick Renteria said: "Gio can continue to work here, get the same type of work. We've already seen Gio in the 'A' games."
Renteria confident in Fulmer
A day after Carson Fulmer struggled against the Padres and was frustrated by his inability to put away hitters, Renteria agreed with his righty's assessment of the outing and offered a backing.
"We're hopeful he's going to continue to do what he's doing in terms of getting ahead and start finishing some hitters," Renteria said.
"He'll be fine. ... He just needs to go out and pitch."
Up next
Reynaldo Lopez, likely the team's No. 3 starter on Opening Day, will make his second spring start when the White Sox play host to the Brewers at Camelback Ranch at 2:05 p.m. CT. The game can be heard exclusively on Gameday Audio or you can watch a video webcast. Lopez gave up a run on two hits and struck out two in his first Cactus League appearance against the Reds.