Menechino on Abreu: He's working hard 

CHICAGO -- After José Abreu connected for a sixth-inning go-ahead home run in Tuesday night’s 9-3 victory over the Twins, the White Sox first baseman connected with hitting coach Frank Menechino through a dugout bear hug.

That moment was a sign of happiness for Abreu as he moves back toward his 2020 American League Most Valuable Player Award form after a slow April start. It also was a show of respect between Abreu and Menechino through the work they’ve put in together.

“Last year, every time he would hit me in the back or hit me in the head or do something like that, he'd get a hit. So it became like a superstition,” Menechino said during a Wednesday Zoom call. “Sometimes he puts me in a bear hug, sometimes he punches me in the back, so I have to hide from him sometimes.

“He's a great guy. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. But he's been working hard, and I've been on him hard. I've been challenging him, and I've been getting on him a lot to, ‘Let's start getting out of this.’ Yesterday, he put a lot of work in, and you finally see it come out in the game. He came up to me and as much as we butt heads and as much as I get on him and stuff, he appreciates me being in his corner.”

The White Sox are 11-1 this season when Abreu drives in a run, and he had three RBIs in Wednesday's 13-8 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field. He is hitting .370 with two home runs and 12 RBIs over his last seven games, giving him 205 homers and 702 RBIs for his career.

“There was some stuff going on with his bat path that he wasn't feeling,” Menechino said of Abreu’s .213 average and .690 OPS in April. “Now he's starting to really pay attention to staying on the fastball and reacting to offspeed stuff. He's starting to get his mechanics back and he's starting to get his timing back. He's starting to relax and he's starting to get into the groove. The guy never stops working, the guy's always going to work.

“Sometimes it's our job to slow him down or challenge him, ‘If you're going to work, let's work, let's do it this way, let's do it that way.’ He's a pro's pro so he's going through a funk. It's my job sometimes to just keep everybody calm and just put them on a straight path and be in his corner.”

Crochet gets No. 1

Rookie southpaw Garrett Crochet picked up his first career victory on Tuesday by retiring both hitters he faced in the sixth inning with the game tied at 3. Crochet replaced Matt Foster with runners on first and third and one out, and he got Mitch Garver on a short fly to right and froze Luis Arraez on a called third strike via his slider.

“My mindset was I really like Matt [Foster] and I don’t want to give up these runs for Matt,” said a smiling Crochet. “As soon as Abreu hit that home run, I was kind of crossing my fingers hoping that we held on there.

“But yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a while. It’s nice to just get it out of the way.”

Crochet made his first appearance since April 25, after spending time on the 10-day injured list due to an upper back strain.

Third to first

• Lance Lynn will start Thursday’s series finale against the Twins, with Carlos Rodón being moved from Thursday to Saturday vs. the Royals. Rodón is dealing with a little tightness in his hamstring and back.

“Just don't want to push it, unless you have to,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We didn't have to.”

• Adam Engel should return to the White Sox sometime this month, per La Russa. The outfielder has been sidelined since the end of Spring Training by a right hamstring strain, but he has been ramping up activity.

“Take it step by step and listen to the body. If you feel a little stiffness, you slow it down. If you feel great, you push it,” La Russa said. “He's making progress. We're counting down the days until he rejoins us.”

They said it

“I’ve told Andrew [Vaughn] to hit .300. I don’t care if you don’t hit one home run. Work on hitting .300 … Let’s hit .300. Then we will worry about the other stuff later.” -- Menechino