Ozzie Guillen entered Saturday night’s game with just three hits in his last 23 at-bats (.130) on the current homestand.
However, manager Terry Bevington said he did not plan to cut back on Guillen’s playing time.
“Ozzie hit a couple of balls good night,” said Bevington. “He lined out to center field. I still feel like, every time he comes up, he can get a hit.”
Bevington’s patience with Guillen paid off. He singled home Ray Durham in his first at-bat Saturday to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.
Starting to catch on: Sox starting pitching has caught fire in recent days. In the last three games before Saturday, starters Alex Fernandez, Dave Righetti and Wilson Alvarez combined for a 1.61 earned-run average and limited opposing batters to 18 hits, 5.8 per nine innings. The starters struck out 11 and walked only six.
Hit parade: Led by Tim Raines at .424 and Norberto Martin at .407, the Sox are batting .293 as a team in August. That’s 18 points above the American League average of .275.
Runnin’ wild: Children in attendance will be allowed to enter the field and run the bases following Sunday’s game against the Rangers. More than 7,000 kids ran the bases on May 7 and July 9, the two previous dates when the Sox held the event.
Down on the farm: Chris Snopek’s grand slam helped Triple-A Nashville (59-69) to its fourth straight victory Friday, 7-3 over Buffalo. Double-A Birmingham (71-56) beat Wilmington 5-2.