DENVER (AP) - Avisail Garcia nearly made a game-saving catch. Instead, the right fielder ended up with a jammed left shoulder.
That’s the way the afternoon went for the Chicago White Sox, who lost to the Colorado Rockies 10-4 on Wednesday.
Garcia said his shoulder is aching after he left the game in the sixth inning. And while X-rays were negative for a fracture or a separation, he will undergo an MRI on Thursday as a precaution.
“Hopefully, it is just a strain,” Garcia said.
He wasn’t the only one banged up. Reliever Ronald Belisario left with tightness in his back after allowing five runs in a game that got away from the White Sox.
Colorado scored six runs in the eighth - its biggest inning this season. Justin Morneau started the rally with a single off Scott Downs (0-2), who was pulled for Belisario.
The Rockies sent 10 batters to the plate, with D.J. LeMahieu coming up with a clutch hit to center to drive in two runs. Pinch-hitter Josh Rutledge and Michael Cuddyer added run-scoring singles, and Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run double down the line.
Rex Brothers (1-0) got two outs in the eighth for the win.
“Need to keep the momentum,” Gonzalez said.
Momentum shifted in the sixth. Morneau led off with a double and hustled to third after left fielder Dayan Viciedo bobbled the ball on the warning track. Starter Erik Johnson retired the next two hitters and appeared he might escape the jam when LeMahieu lined a ball at Garcia.
Earlier in the game, Garcia robbed LeMahieu of a hit on a similar play. So LeMahieu figured Garcia would come up with this diving catch, too.
“Thought I was out,” LeMahieu said.
Garcia leapt forward and had the ball in his glove, but when he landed, the ground jarred the ball loose, allowing Morneau to trot him with the tying run. Garcia stayed on the ground for several minutes before walking slowly to the dugout.
“Right now I have pain,” Garcia said.
Chicago didn’t ask for a video review to determine whether Garcia possibly held the ball long enough for an out.
“You really have to have a positive view of whether it was a catch,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “You have to have the glove around the ball to be a catch.”
Chicago’s bullpen melted down, giving up six runs in 2 1-3 innings.
“(Belisario) got the ground balls. But they just kept finding the holes,” Ventura said. “And it kept going, kept going after that.”
After struggling in the first two weeks of the season, Jose Abreu heated up at hitter-friendly Coors Field, where he almost wound up.
Abreu was 2 for 4 with a double on Wednesday. He had four hits in the series, including his first two homers of the season. The Rockies made a strong push to obtain the Cuban slugger in October before he signed a $68 million, six-year contract with Chicago.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said Abreu was as good as advertised: “All the reports were this guy is a legitimate middle of the order bat. I think we saw that.”
Before the game, the Rockies recalled Rutledge from Triple-A Colorado Springs, giving the team a backup for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who has been bothered by tightness in his right quadriceps. Weiss gave Tulowitzki the day off just so he’s not “run into the ground this early.”
To make room on the roster, Colorado optioned struggling right-handed reliever Wilton Lopez to Colorado Springs. Lopez has an 11.37 ERA in four games.
NOTES: The White Sox open a seven-game homestand on Thursday against Cleveland, with LHP John Danks (0-0) slated to take the mound. … 3B Conor Gillaspie had a two-run single for Chicago in the fifth. … SS Alexei Ramirez has hit in nine games to start the season. He’s hitting .412. … Johnson went 5 2-3 innings, giving up four runs and nine hits in his first interleague start. … C Tyler Flowers and OF Adam Eaton had RBI singles.
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