Character Art Exchange

Nate Hairston Jersey

White Sox manager Rick Renteria has been talking with Yoan Moncada about his focus lately.

The talented second baseman sure looked locked in on Sunday.

Moncada broke out of a slump with a three-run homer and six RBIs [url=http://www.officialknightsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-luca-sbisa-jersey]Luca Sbisa Jersey[/url] , and the White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 10-3 for a split of their four-game series.

”Anytime you’re going through a rough moment, you have doubts, you have questions,” Moncada said through an interpreter. ”But when you keep working hard, you can answer those questions.

”I keep grinding and just working hard.”

Daniel Palka and Yolmer Sanchez also connected for the White Sox, who had lost nine of 10. Carlos Rodon (1-2) pitched a season-high eight innings in his fourth start after missing the beginning of the year while recovering from shoulder surgery last September.

Moncada, who hit .183 over the previous 35 games, gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead with a three-run double in the fifth. Moncada then scored on Avisail Garcia’s single, and Jose Abreu added another RBI single.

Palka, Sanchez and Moncada all went deep in the sixth. Moncada belted a three-run drive for his 10th homer, making it 10-2 Chicago.

”I think he’s probably giving a little bit of a wakeup call to himself in terms of where he sees himself,” Renteria said. ”I think he’s also learned that truly you have to take every single pitch of a game into consideration because they all matter.

”I think he’s starting to realize that maybe I have to have a little bit more focus and intensity.”

Oakland set a modern major league record when Mark Canha hit a drive to left on Rodon’s first pitch of the fifth, extending the A’s streak to 25 straight road games with a homer. Canha also opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second.

A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn (1-2) allowed six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings. He permitted only one baserunner through the first four, but got into trouble with two out in the fifth.

The rally started with back-to-back singles by Omar Narvaez and Leury Garcia, and then Blackburn hit ninth hitter Adam Engel with a pitch.

”Garcia didn’t look very good on a couple changeups I threw. I threw another one that was a little up and he kind of flipped it over there (right field) [url=http://www.officialknightsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-marc-andre-fleury-jersey]Marc-Andre Fleury Jersey[/url] ,” Blackburn said. ”Then I hit (Engel), and it was kind of downhill from there.”

Rodon allowed two runs and seven hits. The eight innings matched his career high.

”It was good to go eight and just be ahead of guys,” Rodon said. ”There’s up and down days when you go through shoulder surgery or any kind of surgery for a player. You just have to work through it, try to make your way back.”

ANOTHER STOP

Well-traveled right-hander Edwin Jackson will be activated on Monday and start for Oakland at Detroit.

The A’s will become his 13th major league team, which ties retired right-hander Octavio Dotel for the major league record. The 34-year-old went 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Nashville. He owns a 98-120 major league record and 4.67 ERA in 15 seasons.

”I’m probably the only guy in the clubhouse that has never met him, but I did earlier today,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.

Outfielder Nick Martini will be sent to Triple-A Nashville to open a spot for Jackson on the roster.

HISTORIC HOMER

Melvin said the team celebrated Canha’s record-setting home run in the dugout.

”It’s nice to hang your hat on, but it certainly would have been a little better if we had won the game,” Melvin said.

The previous record was set by the Orioles in 1996.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: RHP Daniel Mengden (sprained right foot) returned to the Bay Area to consult with team physicians. The injury is not believed to be related to his previous right foot injuries. ”We’ll probably know a little bit more in the next couple of days,” Melvin said. … INF Matt Chapman (right hand contusion) could have a cortisone shot in the wrist area on Monday and will sit out the Tigers series. He had an injection in his thumb last Monday. The hope is the trouble spot has been localized and he’ll be available on the next homestand.

White Sox: RHP prospect Dane Dunning left his start Saturday for Double-A Birmingham with right elbow soreness, Renteria said. He will undergo an MRI.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Jackson will make his A’s debut in the opener of a four-game series in Detroit. RHP Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 4.95 ERA) goes for the Tigers.

White Sox: Following an off day, the White Sox begin a three-game set against visiting Minnesota on Tuesday. RHP Reynaldo Lopez (2-5, 3.59 ERA) opposes Twins RHP Lance Lynn (5-5, 4.64 ERA) in the opener.

It’s exactly what Lindsey Vonn was hoping for – a dominant victory one month before she goes for gold at the Olympics.

Vonn amped up her preparations for the Pyeongchang Games by winning a World Cup downhill by a large margin Saturday while Italian rival Sofia Goggia avoided a major crash with the help of a safety air bag.

Vonn clocked 1 minute [url=http://www.officialknightsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-nate-schmidt-jersey]Nate Schmidt Jersey[/url] , 36.48 seconds on the sun-drenched Olympia delle Tofane course for a massive 0.92-second advantage over Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein.

”I know what I’m capable of. This weekend just proves it,” Vonn said. ”No matter what happens from here to the Olympics I’ll be confident. I have a good feeling on my skis. I feel balanced, in control and solid. This weekend was really important for me.

”This is just the momentum that I was hoping for and that I was planning on going to the Olympics,” added Vonn, who celebrated by riding an electric bicycle – a gift from the local organizing committee – around on the snow in the finish area.

Vonn’s U.S. teammate Jacqueline Wiles finished third, 0.98 behind, for her second career podium result.

Goggia, the winner of the past two downhills, lost control landing a jump in the Tofana Schuss and made a quick recovery but could not continue.

”I was able to control the fall with the help of the air bag,” Goggia said. ”I ran a big risk. It was scary.”

Many racers wear an air bag in a vest under their racing suits. A complicated algorithm triggers inflation during falls when skiers reach a point where they can no longer regain control.

Vonn clocked 129.8 kph (80 mph) in the schuss, an imposing and narrow chute between two huge rock outcrops on the top section of the course.

”It was good, clean skiing today. I didn’t make any big mistakes like yesterday,” said Vonn, who finished second in Friday’s downhill after an error midway down.

”And it was just really fun to race. It was a beautiful day – normal, perfect Cortina sunshine – and perfect conditions [url=http://www.officialknightsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-oscar-dansk-jersey]Oscar Dansk Jersey[/url] ,” Vonn added. ”So it made me really happy just to be out there on the mountain today.”

It was Vonn’s second win this season, a record 12th in Cortina and 79th of her career – moving her within seven of Ingemar Stenmark’s record 86 World Cup victories.

”My focus right now is so much on the Olympics that I haven’t really thought about it that much this season,” Vonn said of Stenmark’s record. ”After the Olympics, that will be my No. 1 priority again and I’ll try to rack up as many wins as possible before I retire.”

After a couple of crashes and a jarred back at the start of this season, Vonn had been holding back or sitting out races when conditions were difficult due to fog or ice.

So how will she handle it if the conditions for the Olympic downhill on Feb. 21 are not perfect?

”When I get to Korea there will be no holding back no matter what the conditions are. This is what I’ve been working for for the last eight years,” said Vonn, who missed the 2014 Sochi Games due to a series of knee injuries.

”The tactics leading into the Olympics are so that I can get to the Olympics healthy – not that I’m afraid to push myself in bad conditions,” Vonn added. ”I know what I’m capable of and if I choose to ski aggressively I know what I can do. It’s all or nothing in Korea.”

Wiles was on course to finish second – trailing Vonn by just 0.30 seconds at the penultimate checkpoint – but then drifted too wide on a turn and lost a big chunk of time.

Still, Wiles was especially honored to share the podium with Vonn, who supported her financially when she was getting started on the circuit.

Wiles is also an ambassador for the Lindsey Vonn foundation.

”She’s done a lot for my career and she gave me an amazing course report and pumped me up through the radio before my run,” Wiles said. ”I’m really grateful she’s such a great friend and role model I have to learn from.”

Up next is a super-G on Sunday.



More AP Olympic coverage:

You must be logged in to comment.

Register
Log in
Username

Password:

forgot your password?

or OpenID:
or Log in with Google