Yoan Moncada’s homer, six RBIs helps White Sox split four-game series with A’s

CHICAGO - White Sox manager Rick Renteria has been talking with Yoan Moncada about his focus lately. The talented second baseman sure looked locked in on Sunday.

Moncada broke out of a slump with a three-run homer and six RBIs, and the White Sox beat the Athletics 10-3 for a split of their four-game series.

“Anytime you’re going through a rough moment, you have doubts, you have questions,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “But when you keep working hard, you can answer those questions.”

Daniel Palka and Yolmer Sanchez also connected for the White Sox, who had lost nine of 10.

Moncada, who hit .183 the previous 35 games, gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead with a three-run double in the fifth. Moncada then scored on Avisail Garcia’s single, and Jose Abreu added an RBI single.

Palka, Sanchez and Moncada all went deep in the sixth. Moncada belted a three-run drive for his 10th homer, making it 10-2 Chicago.

“I think he’s probably giving a little bit of a wakeup call to himself in terms of where he sees himself,” Renteria said. “I think he’s also learned that truly you have to take every single pitch of a game into consideration because they all matter.”

Oakland set a modern major league record when Mark Canha hit a drive to left on Rodon’s first pitch of the fifth, extending the A’s streak to 25 consecutive road games with a homer.

A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn (1-2) allowed six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings. He permitted only one baserunner through the first four, but got into trouble with two out in the fifth.

The rally started with back-to-back singles by Omar Narvaez and Leury Garcia, and then Blackburn hit ninth hitter Adam Engel with a pitch.

“Garcia didn’t look very good on a couple changeups I threw. I threw another one that was a little up and he kind of flipped it over there (right field),” Blackburn said. “Then I hit (Engel), and it was kind of downhill from there.”

Rodon allowed two runs and seven hits in a career-high eight innings.

“It was good to go eight and just be ahead of guys,” Rodon said. “There’s up and down days when you go through shoulder surgery or any kind of surgery for a player. You just have to work through it, try to make your way back.”

NOTES

Well-traveled right-hander Edwin Jackson will be activated today and start for Oakland at Detroit. The A’s will become his 13th major league team, which ties retired right-hander Octavio Dotel for the major league record.

Melvin said the team celebrated Canha’s record-setting home run in the dugout. “It’s nice to hang your hat on, but it certainly would have been a little better if we had won the game,” Melvin said.

A’s right-hander Daniel Mengden (sprained right foot) returned to the Bay Area to consult with team physicians. The injury is not believed to be related to his previous right foot injuries. “We’ll probably know a little bit more in the next couple of days,” Melvin said.