Jonathan Cannon’s lower back bothered him “a little bit” after playing catch Friday.
“I was still confident I was going to be able to throw today and woke up this morning and it was really tight,” the Chicago White Sox pitcher said before Saturday’s game against the Texas Rangers.
The Sox took the steps of scratching the right-hander from Saturday’s start. He is listed as day to day.
“We decided to just see how it goes,” Cannon said. “Hopefully make a start in the next couple of days.”
Cannon missed out on a wacky contest, as the Sox took advantage of several Rangers miscues during a six-run sixth inning to rally for a 10-5 victory in front of 19,240 at Rate Field.
The sixth included a collision between two Rangers outfielders and a fielding error — along with a go-ahead two-run double by Andrew Benintendi and a three-run double by Lenyn Sosa as the Sox secured the series victory.
The Sox have won the first two in the series, getting strong pitching by Sean Burke in Friday’s 4-1 victory. They’ll go for the sweep Sunday.
The Sox were the ones making the mistakes early in Saturday’s game. Trailing 2-0 with two outs and a runner on third in the fourth inning, Sox left fielder Joshua Palacios dropped a flyball. Jonah Heim scored on the error.
Palacios made up for the play in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run home run to right to bring the Sox within 3-2.
The defense let Sox starter Bryse Wilson down again in the fifth when third baseman Josh Rojas made a throwing error while trying to get a forceout at second base. That runner, Wyatt Langford, later scored on a Kyle Higashioka single.
But it all turned the Sox’s way in the sixth.
Pinch hitter Austin Slater hit a flyball to left-center to begin the inning. Center fielder Sam Haggerty and left fielder Langford collided, and Slater raced to third for what was ruled a triple. Chase Meidroth then hit a grounder to third, which Josh Jung couldn’t handle for an error.
Mike Tauchman tapped a slow grounder to second. Marcus Semien tried to tag Meidroth but missed, and then made a late throw to first. Slater scored on the grounder, bringing the Sox within 4-3.
The runners moved up to second and third on a Miguel Vargas groundout. Benintendi followed with the two-run double, giving the Sox a 5-4 lead.
The Sox loaded the bases with two outs later in the inning, and Sosa came through with the three-run double to make it 8-4.
Twelve batters came to the plate during the inning.
The Sox tacked on one run each in the seventh and eighth — including a Tauchman home run.
It was an impressive comeback for the Sox (17-35), who had to deal with the tough news on Cannon before the game. Cannon said it was the first time he has experienced the back tightness.
“I kind of feel like an old man right now,” he said. “It just kind of locked up on me. Hopefully it clears up in the next 24 hours.”
The 24-year-old said his next start is to be determined.
“We are kind of playing it by ear,” Cannon said. “The goal is to definitely not have to go on the IL and be able to make a start in the next few days or so.”
Cannon said he did not undergo an MRI.
“They are pretty confident it got stiff on me a little bit and we can clear it up,” he said. “We’ve already been doing treatment all morning. It’s doing a lot better. Hopefully play some catch and maybe the next day get off the mound a little bit and make a start in the next few days.”
Cannon is 2-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 10 outings (eight starts). He has a 2.74 ERA in four May appearances (three starts) with 15 strikeouts and no walks in 23 innings.
“It stinks,” Cannon said of missing the start. “Obviously this is a long season and just one of those things like you don’t really see it coming. You kind of wake up on the wrong side of the bed one morning and you are like ‘Ah, man.’
“It kind of stinks it kind of locked up on me the day before my start. If this happened the day after (a start) or day two, probably wouldn’t miss a beat. It’s a little unfortunate there. Hopefully we can get it all squared away and good to go.”
Sox release Oscar Colás
The Sox released the outfielder Saturday, the team’s Triple-A affiliate Charlotte announced.
Colás had a .163 average in 29 games between Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte this season. He appeared in 88 games with the Sox in 2023-24, hitting .223 with five home runs and 23 RBIs.
Colás originally joined the organization as an international signing announced in December 2022, a deal that included a $2.7 million bonus.
