ARLINGTON, Texas _ Rougned Odor's home run on the first pitch he saw leading off the second for the Rangers Friday night was only the beginning on Dylan Covey's misery in the inning in his dreadful start for the White Sox.
And by the time the Rangers second baseman saw him again and singled off him _ in that same inning _ it only underscored the extent of the carnage Covey was enduring.
When that half-inning was over, the numbers were hard to swallow:
_ Three home runs, with Robinson Chirinos and Nomar Mazara joining Odor.
_ Six hits.
_ Seven runs, six earned.
_ 42 pitches.
_ 11 batters faced.
_ 28 minutes long, as one writer in the press box clocked it.
And that half-inning wasn't the only calamity in this 11-3 Sox loss at Globe Life Park. Covey gave up a fourth home run in the third to Joey Gallo.
And when he walked Delino DeShields, Sox manager Rick Renteria instituted his own version of the mercy rule and gave Covey the hook after just 21/3 innings. He summoned Chris Volstad in relief and he gave up a first-pitch, two-run blast to Shin Soo Choo.
Charlie Tilson could be forgiven for falling flat on his diving attempt on Mazara's leadoff double in the sixth, but he just plain muffed Jurickson Profar's high fly that scored Mazara for the 11th run, and the first error of Tilson's big-league career.
Juan Minaya came in for Volstad and threw a wild pitch that advanced Profar to third.
There was enough stink to go around, almost enough to mask the fact that Yoan Moncada committed his 13th error of the season.
The second baseman bobbled Profar's routine second-inning grounder seemingly three times on the same play for his second error in the last three games. At one point, he reached behind and between his legs grasping for the ball, finally got hold of it and then dropped it again before the throw to first base.
Ironically, the error brought him into a tie with Profar for third place among MLB leaders and padded his lead among second basemen. The fact that it came in the second inning just added to Covey's woes.
It's a recurring them with Moncada, something Renteria has expended a lot of time talking about publicly with reporters and privately with Moncada. Just Thursday, Renteria said, "He understands. I mean, we've addressed it a lot. There's a little more urgency with him now to square himself to more routine balls."
In this case, Moncada squared up on the ball and it still didn't help. The ball rolled up his glove and into his abdomen before dropping to the dirt.
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the Sox.
Avisail Garcia recorded his first triple of the season when he laced Yovanni Gallardo's first-pitch slider deep into center field, which DeShields had trouble digging out. Jose Abreu's groundout brought Garcia home for the Sox's first score.
Adam Engel's eighth double of the season chased Gallardo in the eighth. Gallardo went 71/3 innings and struck out seven.
Moncada's groundout in the eighth scored Tilson and Garcia's single drove in Engel.
