Heuer tosses perfect 9th in triumphant debut

CHICAGO -- Right-hander Codi Heuer made his Major League debut in the ninth inning of Friday’s 10-5 loss to the Twins, striking out Mitch Garver in a perfect frame. Despite not having any of his family and friends present, the 24-year-old had plenty of text messages waiting for him after the game.

There also was one important voicemail from his father.

“He was tearing up,” Heuer said. “He said, ‘That was awesome to watch you play. It’s such a long road to get here, and a lot of hard work. You deserve it.’

“It means a lot, especially coming from my old man. I wouldn’t be here without him. So that was nice.”

Heuer moved to the bullpen in 2019 with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and then Double-A Birmingham, and he likes the fit.

“Bullpen is a different mindset for me,” Heuer said. “As a starter, you take a gameplan and you have a couple of more days leading up into your outing. In the bullpen, you have to be able to answer that call as soon as that bullpen phone rings.

“There’s something to be said for that. I think I reacted well to that, and I love being in that position in the back half of a game. Whether it be closing down a game, I love being in the bullpen.”

Anderson says he won’t kneel again
Tim Anderson knelt during the national anthem prior to Friday’s season opener at Guaranteed Rate Field in support of the fight for social justice. But the White Sox shortstop, who does so much work with his wife, Bria, in Chicago through his Anderson’s League of Leaders, does not intend to kneel again after delivering the message he wanted.

“I will not,” Anderson said Saturday. “I feel like yesterday was definitely big enough to actually spread the love that is needed.

“Show that I support it. But I will not continue to kneel. I just showed my love and showed it in the right way, in a respectful way. But I will continue to be the person that I am and continue to have fun.”

Third to first
• The Tigers claimed right-handed pitcher Carson Fulmer off waivers, bringing an end to the White Sox tenure for the eighth overall pick in the 2015 Draft. Fulmer posted a 6.56 ERA over 44 games with the White Sox.

• Gio González warmed up twice Friday night but still has yet to get into a game for the White Sox, despite this being his third stint with the team.

“He's our Swiss-army knife,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “Gio is ready to do whatever we ask him to do, and he can do many things and do many things well.”

He said it
“He’s a great athlete. He’s got really great ability. God blessed him with that skill. He’s going to be a great, talented player at this level. But at the same time, this is baseball. We are human, so we can make adjustments and figure out how we can pitch him. He’s good.” -- Twins starter José Berríos on Luis Robert