April 19--White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon lasted just 1/3 inning Monday night, leaving the series opener against the Angels to a chorus of boos after he gave up five earned runs on six hits with two walks.
It was the shortest non-injury related outing by a Sox starting pitcher since Neal Cotts went 1/3 inning against the Yankees on Aug. 28, 2003.
Rodon loaded the bases in the first inning on a single and two walks before the Angels strung together five straight singles to pull ahead 5-0. Sox reliever Jake Petricka got up to warm up just 15 minutes into the game, and he got Yunel Escobar to hit into a double play to end the inning.
Rodon entered with a 1-1 record and a 1.38 ERA. He faced former Sox left-hander Hector Santiago, who owned a 3.95 ERA.
The Sox were hoping to settle in at U.S. Cellular Field after playing 10 of their first 12 games on the road. They will play a seven-game homestand against the Angels and Rangers.
"It's nice for guys to be able to come home last night, have a night where they can get settled in and come in the next day knowing we have a long homestand where we can get a little comfortable here," Sox outfielder Adam Eaton said. "Playing at home, a lot of guys that are new faces haven't been able to get familiar with everything here and get comfortable."
The Sox needed their bats to heat up at home after averaging 2.5 runs per game over their six-game road trip to play the Twins and Rays.
"Just one of those stretches," third baseman Todd Frazier said. "We'd rather have it earlier than later in the year. Everybody is upbeat. I'm upbeat. First 50 at-bats, you can just wash them out the door. Nothing you can really do now. Just attack it and go about your business."
