Ricky Speaks: "Today Obviously Was Handed to Us, Right?"
While White Sox manager Ricky Renteria may be getting used to losses—now six straight, and seven of eight—it's not often his team has been blown out of the park, as his club was in tonight's 10-0 shellacking by the Cubs.
"Today obvious.y was handed to us, right?" he acknowledged right away. "It wasn’t because we wanted that to happen. The pitcher on the other side limited what we were able to string together...[We’ll] be fired up tomorrow...Nobody is happy about how that ended up playing itself out. It puts us in a place where we end up being embarrassed. We have to prepare ourselves for the upcoming postseason. I suspect we’ll see something a little better tomorrow."
As for the lone controversy of the game—Jimmy Cordero getting tossed, without umpire warning, after hitting Willson Contreras with an alleged sinker that got away—Renteria pleaded innocence.
"Jimmy’s got a strong sinker," he said, acknowledging he never even saw Contreras' bat flip earlier in the game. "I didn’t need him to do … the ball got away from him. The ball ran away. We’re limited on what [our bullpen] can do, we [ended up having to] put Sanchy [Yolmer Sánchez out there!"
As for the ejection itself, Renteria was smart with his words, but unapologetic for getting hot under the circumstances.
"I was a little livid," he said. "The umpires have the judgment, and did what they did."
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As a bonus, short but sweet, here is Cordero's postgame media session, devoted almost entirely to his ejection:
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Ricky Renteria and Jimmy Cordero postgame video courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.