Third to first
• Gordon Beckham played his first game at second base during his injury rehab assignment with Double-A Birmingham for a strained left oblique. Beckham was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday pitting the Barons against Mobile and then went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored as designated hitter in Game 2
• The White Sox closed the upper deck for Tuesday's series opener against the Red Sox, following Monday's snowstorm and the 40-degree game-time temperature.
"Due to cold temperatures and the expected conditions during tonight's game, we closed the upper deck and the Comcast Fundamentals Deck out of a concern for the safety of our fans [caused by snow and ice on the ramps and in certain parts of the seating areas]," the team said in a statement. "All season-ticket holders, group customers and individual-ticket purchasers for tonight's game were relocated to seats in the lower deck and issued new tickets."
• Due to conflicts with the Blackhawks' playoff schedule, White Sox games on Thursday vs. Boston and April 23 at Detroit will air on CSN+, instead of CSN as originally scheduled.
• The White Sox have agreed to terms on a Minor League contract with right-handed pitcher Frank Francisco, who will report to extended spring training before joining Triple-A Charlotte. Francisco, 34, is 20-22 with a 3.93 ERA, 73 saves and 421 strikeouts in 387 games for the Rangers, Blue Jays and Mets. Francisco joins Tommy Hanson and Javy Guerra as veteran additions by the White Sox since the end of Spring Training.
• Hitting coach Todd Steverson was talking about Ramirez's great early success in this instance, but he presented a statement Tuesday that holds true for the entire White Sox offense, sitting first in the Majors in runs per game.
"Say all the statistics and metrics you want to say," Steverson said, "but there's no metric for confidence."
• Ventura gave a vote of support to Matt Lindstrom, who has blown two save opportunities as the team's new closer.
"He's in there right now," said Ventura of Lindstrom. "It's always been that way, where you can make a change at any time. It's tough, the job is tough. As of right now, he'd probably be going out there today."