April 27--Matt Albers received several text messages Monday night after his 30th straight scoreless relief appearance for the White Sox.
One was from Jesse Crain, the former Sox reliever who previously owned the club record of 29 straight. Crain congratulated Albers and noted his feat came in one season in 2013, while Albers' stretches over two.
The other texts were from buddies laughing at the video of Albers celebrating the record.
After Albers fielded Ezequiel Carrera's bunt and threw to first base for the final out of the eighth inning, a camera on the dugout caught him high-fiving teammates and screaming, "(Expletive) like a cat."
"I was just joking, just like a cat off the mound," Albers said. "The position players don't usually give pitchers much credit for being athletes, so I was just having some fun with it because they were all pretty excited about it. Just yelling, having fun. We're having a lot of that this year, and I'm just trying to add to that."
Albers has been more demonstrative as his streak rolls on, now at 33 innings. He becomes especially fired up when making a play in the field.
"Those are high-energy, high-stress situations," manager Robin Ventura said. "He handles that fine, but he's trying to find something inside to get him going. A few people have been bunting on him, probably thinking he can't get off the mound. He believes he's a cat."
Next up: The catching carousel continued Tuesday as the Sox called up Hector Sanchez from Triple-A Charlotte and placed Kevan Smith on the 15-day disabled list.
Smith, promoted from Charlotte on Sunday to replace injured Alex Avila, was scratched about an hour before his scheduled major-league debut Monday because of "paralyzing" back spasms during the pregame stretch.
Smith will head to Arizona on Wednesday to rehab. He will try to stay on track after hitting .345 at Charlotte.
"It's a feeling that I don't want to lose," he said. "That's why it's important for me to get healthy, get out to Arizona, keep swinging it and keep fine-tuning it. ... I was anxious to give it a try (Monday), but I've just got to roll with the punches."
Sanchez, a veteran of 244 major-league games with the Giants, signed a minor-league deal in the offseason. He was the third-string catcher for most of spring training.
"It's sad to be here because one of your teammates is hurt," he said, "but that happens in this game, so you have to be ready all of the time."
