Renteria says loss beyond Eloy's misplay

CHICAGO -- Much of the focus following Milwaukee¡¯s 8-3 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday night will fall upon Eloy Jim¨¦nez and the play he could have -- and maybe even should have -- made in left field with one out in the fifth inning.

That fly ball hit by Christian Yelich turned the potential second out for White Sox left-hander Gio Gonz¨¢lez -- protecting a 2-1 lead -- into a game-tying, inside-the-park home run. It also sparked a four-run inning.

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But in the mind of White Sox manager Rick Renteria, Jim¨¦nez¡¯s defensive shortcoming was not the whole story of the team¡¯s second straight setback.

In fact, it was a total team loss.

¡°It wasn¡¯t one of our better games, guys,¡± said Renteria during his postgame Zoom session. ¡°I¡¯m not going to try to sugarcoat it. It was not one of our better games today. Thankfully we have not had a lot of them like this.¡±

Yelich didn¡¯t seem sure if his fifth-inning fly ball would stay fair, a sentiment echoed by Gonz¨¢lez, and Yelich really turned on the afterburners rounding first. Jim¨¦nez did not appear to get a good initial read on the ball, and he then became entangled as his momentum carried him into the protective netting down the line after Yelich¡¯s hit fell a few feet from his outstretched attempt.

Avisa¨ªl Garc¨ªa followed Yelich¡¯s dash around the bases by coaxing a walk after being down 0-2 and Jedd Gyorko lined a two-run home run to left after also being behind at 0-2 to Gonz¨¢lez. The Brewers scored one more unearned run in the frame.

¡°It's probably the luckiest home run baseball history. It was definitely top three,¡± Yelich said. ¡°I needed that one. It's been an absolute zoo. I've been awful all year, so to have some positivity and be able to smile about something was nice. Much needed.¡±

¡°Was it a tough play for him? Yes. Could it have been made? Should it have been made? It¡¯s possible,¡± Renteria said. ¡°But he did everything he could to kind of corral it. That¡¯s probably not the story of the game. The story of the game is we were probably shut down a little bit on the offensive side, which didn¡¯t give us a whole lot moving forward.¡±

Leury Garc¨ªa¡¯s two-run home run off of Josh Lindblom stood as the White Sox only runs until the ninth, when Garc¨ªa doubled home a third. They had another scoring chance in the seventh off of Freddy Peralta, but Zack Collins¡¯ long drive to right off a swing on a 3-0 count was caught at the wall by Mark Mathias with two runners on base and two outs.

Otherwise, it was a somewhat forgettable evening, dropping the White Sox to 1-4 at home amid a pretty solid 7-6 start overall. The top five hitters in the lineup finished 2-for-19 with 13 strikeouts, and even rookie phenom Luis Robert, who had hit in five straight games and 11 of 12 this season, had an off night with four strikeouts.

¡°He¡¯s probably going to be a little frustrated, coming into the dugout a little frustrated after the at-bats,¡± said Renteria of Robert. ¡°But these are tremendously big learning experiences for him. We¡¯ve talked about it. Tonight does not take away from what this young man is going to be capable of doing.¡±

Renteria believes just as much in Jim¨¦nez¡¯s defense, which has received its fair share of questions over the past two seasons.

¡°The story is not finished at all in terms of where he¡¯s at defensively or how he¡¯s going to improve. My expectation is that he will still continue to improve,¡± Renteria said. ¡°This is probably a blip and time will tell if I¡¯m absolutely off my rocker and wrong, but he has been playing pretty decent out there.

¡°His jumps have been good, his reads, his drop step. I¡¯m not too concerned about it. Again, I know today it¡¯s going to be one of the highlights because we weren¡¯t able to rebound.¡±