Left-hander Dallas Keuchel will skip his scheduled start Saturday against the Tigers “out of an abundance of caution,” manager Rick Renteria said, and aim for his turn against the Twins early next week instead.
Keuchel left his start against the Royals Sunday after five innings with back soreness, and missing a turn puts more stress on a rotation that has received a combined 10 starts from Reynaldo Lopez, Gio Gonzalez and Carlos Rodon because of injuries and, in Lopez’ case, injury and ineffectiveness when healthy.
The bigger concern would be whether Keuchel, who owns a 6-2 record and 2.19 ERA, will be 100 percent down the stretch and in the postseason. But Renteria said Keuchel won’t miss more than one start.
“He actually came into the office today, said he was feeling better,” Renteria said. “So he’s going to go out there, play some catch, and we’ll continue to treat him up and get him ready for his next start after we obviously skip this one.”
The Sox, who entered play Wednesday tied for first place, are 2-4 against the defending AL Central champion Twins and 6-1 against the Tigers.
Keuchel has had soreness for much of the season and lasted just five innings in each of his last two starts, throwing 85 pitches against the Twins in a 3-2 loss on Sept. 1 and 49 against the Royals, an 8-2 win. In two outings leading up to those, Keuchel threw 114 pitches and eight innings in a 10-1 win over the Cubs on Aug. 21 and 97 pitches and six innings in a 10-3 win over the Pirates five days later.
On deck
The Sox are off Thursday before starting a 17-day stretch to close out the regular season. Lucas Giolito starts Friday against the Tigers, and Saturday’s and Sunday’s starters are to be determined, Renteria said. A bullpen day is possible, and Cease could pitch on four days rest Sunday. Another possibility is bringing Lopez back from Schaumburg.
Clemente tribute
Pirates Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente was honored around baseball Wednesday, and shortstop Tim Anderson, the Sox’ nominee for the Clemente Award, felt honored to be playing in Pittsburgh. The award is given to the player who “best exemplifies the game, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.”
“Yeah, man, it just makes sense,” Anderson said of community involvement. “Grow as a person, player, teammate. Just rub people the right way, respecting people no matter what position they have or what kind of job they have. Just being realistic with life, and understand everything and cherish every moment.”
This and that
Through Tuesday, the Sox were sixth in the majors with a 3.76 ERA, which would be their lowest mark since the 2005 World Series seaso (3.61). The starting rotation ranked fourth in majors with a 3.47 ERA, which would be its lowest mark since 1972 (3.10) when Wilbur Wood (49 starts), Stan Bahnsen (41), Tom Bradley (40) and Dave Lemonds (19) made all but six of the team’s 154 starts.
Starters own major-league best 2.71 ERA over last 37 games but have thrown just 50 2/3 innings over last 11 games.
*Dunning is one of 10 Sox who made his major-league debut in 2020. Also: Zack Burdi, Bernardo Flores Jr., Matt Foster, Luis González, Codi Heuer, Jimmy Lambert, Nick Madrigal, Yermín Mercedes, Luis Robert.
