Sept. 04--Jeff Samardzija has as much at stake as any of the White Sox in the final month of what has become a lost season for the club.
A free agent this offseason, the right-hander could use the final starts of the year to boost his stock, which likely dropped during one of the worst month-long stretches of his career.
In his first start of September, Twins rookie Eddie Rosario's third-inning grand slam off Samardzija on Thursday didn't help matters much, but the starter buckled down to help the Sox to a 6-4 victory at Target Field.
Samardzija kept the Twins off the board in the rest of his 6 1/3 innings to earn his first victory since July 28 and snap a career-long six-game losing streak.
"I have enough out there to show what I can do, so I'm not worried about (proving myself in September)," Samardzija said. "It's more about not letting things get away from you because you're pressing too hard. I like to grit my teeth and go a little harder when there's a little adversity, and sometimes that's not the best thing.
"When you have a lot of stuff riding on your shoulders, and you continue to push harder and harder, sometimes you need to pull back a little bit, have a little fun and really enjoy the process instead of fighting it."
Samardzija has an 8.33 ERA over 40 innings in his last seven starts and has allowed fewer than four earned runs in just one of those starts. But he could take some pride in his recovery Thursday, something Sox manager Robin Ventura said showed his competitive side.
"He grinded through it," Ventura said. "Nobody wants to give up the homer like that, but he put it behind him and ends up getting a win out of it. It's a nice start to September for him."
Samardzija used Rosario to get out of trouble in the first inning, prompting him to fly out to left field on the first pitch with the bases loaded and two outs. But Rosario received another opportunity when Samardzija loaded the bases on a single and two walks with two outs in the third, and he launched just the second grand slam off Samardzija ever to right-center field.
Samardzija regrouped to retire 11 of the last 13 batters he faced, and the Sox surged back to take the lead on J.B. Shuck's pinch-hit, two-run triple in the seventh inning.
"Usually when you're in the situation I've been in the last month, that next turning point doesn't come easy," said Samardzija, who's 9-11 overall with a 4.87 ERA. "Very rarely do you come out and go eight innings in a shutout and get the 10-0 win. Usually you have to kick that by working hard and trusting your stuff and battling. ... That's what starting pitching is all about, is making adjustments and keeping your team close."
Samardzija said he tried to approach every game during the losing streak like it was a fresh start. Ventura recognized Samardzija may have had some mental hurdles to overcome, but he said that's something every player must face.
"Every guy has something mental going on, and you have to get through it," Ventura said. "He's tough enough to get through that."
ckane@tribpub.com
