Abreu exits with left hamstring tightness

White Sox first baseman day to day; Smith leaves with left ankle sprain

March 20th, 2018

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The sight of two players exiting the same game with injuries initially may have set off alarm bells, but White Sox manager Rick Renteria sounded optimistic after Tuesday's 10-0 win over the Rangers that neither setback is serious.
First baseman exited after two innings with left hamstring tightness, and three innings later, catcher exited with a left ankle sprain. Both are day to day.
"We'll know on both of them a little more tomorrow, once they come out and get reevaluated," Renteria said, adding that both players were "smiling" when he saw them after the game.
Abreu had two at-bats before the injury. He singled off Rangers starter Doug Fister in the first inning and grounded into a double play in the second.
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In the fifth, Smith drew a leadoff walk against Rangers reliever  and was advancing to second base on a hit by  when he stopped suddenly and bent over in apparent pain. Smith walked off the field with the assistance of White Sox trainers.
X-rays for fractures on Smith's ankle were negative, and Renteria said the catcher was walking around the training room without issue.

"I'm sure he's going to be limited, but honestly, tomorrow will be the better day to see where they're at," Renteria said.
On Abreu, Renteria added: "Fortunately, it looked like he was just cramping up, or maybe just a light stretch. He's doing good. I'm sure we'll preserve our use of him in the next few days and see where he's at."
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Abreu is batting .214 (9-for-42) with two homers and seven RBIs this spring. Smith, who is competing to be backup catcher behind , is batting .333 (8-for-24) with seven RBIs.
Giolito dominant
Amid the injuries, Tuesday brought some good news, too. Right-hander was dominant against the Rangers in his longest outing of the spring, tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.
The performance added to a strong Spring Training for the 23-year-old righty. Over four starts, Giolito has a 2.04 ERA with four walks and 17 strikeouts.

"Today, I treated it like a [regular-season] game experience," Giolito said. "It's my last long start before the season starts. I'm not out there trying to throw a bunch of one pitch just to work on it. I feel like, even though it's Spring Training, I want to go out there and pitch like I want to pitch during the season."
Working the low-outside corner with fastballs and sliders, Giolito said he and Smith noticed early that Rangers hitters were being aggressive, swinging at a lot of first pitches.
"Luckily, we were able to get a lot of weak contact, a lot of ground balls, and let the defense work behind me," Giolito said.
Worth noting
• On Monday, right-handers Gregory Infante and Danny Farquhar pitched in a Triple-A game vs. Cleveland at Camelback Ranch.
Infante allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout over two innings, throwing 34 pitches. Farquhar allowed one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout in one inning, totaling 15 pitches.
• Since White Sox pitchers allowed 14 runs on Sunday against the A's, they have held opponents to two runs over the past 18 innings. They held the D-backs to two runs on Monday and shut out the Rangers on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the offense has exploded, totaling 25 runs over the past two games.
Up next
The White Sox will host the Padres at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. CT, live on MLB.TV. Right-hander , who has a 3.29 ERA over four starts this spring, will take the mound for Chicago.