Skip to content

White Sox manager after 14-inning loss: 'My f------ guys showed a lot of balls'

Ed Zurga / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Warning: Story contains graphic language

It's not every day a loss gets a manager fired up, but that's exactly what Wednesday's wild, 14-inning affair did for Chicago White Sox bench boss Rick Renteria.

In a high-scoring game, the opposing Oakland Athletics rallied to plate three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take an 11-10 lead. But, the White Sox rallied to tie the game in the ninth on Tim Anderson's two-out RBI single.

Opening Day starter James Shields was ultimately saddled with the loss after a Matt Olson walk-off single in the 14th inning, but that didn't stop Renteria from singing his team's praises.

"You can bleep it, but my fucking guys showed a lot of balls today in this loss," the manager told James Fegan of The Athletic. "They're going to end up winning more games because of the way they went about their business today in the long run than they might imagine."

The defeat dropped the rebuilding White Sox to a 4-11 record, but Renteria's excitement is understandable, if only due to the recent performance of young second baseman Yoan Moncada, who hit his first career grand slam on Wednesday, his second home run in as many days. Meanwhile, Anderson has also seen improvements this year, however modest. The young shortstop entered Thursday with a career-high walk rate (11.1 percent) and 106 wRC+, to go along with a league-leading eight stolen bases.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox