Gonzalez sees positives despite 5th straight loss

PHOENIX -- The final pitching line for Miguel González from the White Sox 5-1 loss to the D-backs on Monday night at Chase Field wasn't exactly ideal for the right-hander.
But his performance over five-plus innings stood out as much closer to his early-season excellence as opposed to his recent struggles.
"Yeah, so there are a lot of positive things," said Gonzalez, who slipped to 3-5 overall with a 4.55 ERA. "Take those, walk with it and better things are going to come."
"All in all, I thought he pitched a lot better today and kind of made a return to what he had been doing previously," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "I was encouraged, to be honest."

Gonzalez looked as strong as any AL starter through his first four starts of 2017, posting a 3-0 record and 2.00 ERA over 27 innings. But in his last five starts, which all finished as losses, Gonzalez yielded 22 runs in 28 1/3 innings for a 6.99 ERA.
Opposing hitters have worked nine walks combined in Gonzalez's previous 10 2/3 innings. He walked one Monday, a two-out free pass to Chris Owings in the fourth. Daniel Descalso followed with a three-run homer to right-center on the next pitch.
"You see what happens when you walk guys. That wasn't in a good situation to walk the guy," Gonzalez said. "You have to keep grinding, keep making my pitches. Really, two pitches were the ones that hurt me tonight. A lot of positives. Nothing to worry about. Keep working hard and things are going to go my way."
Paul Goldschmidt's solo home run to lead off the sixth came on that second pitch, and those mistakes became two too many against Zack Greinke, who struck out 12.
"Curveball, three-run homer. Fastball in, could have been a little more in, but sometimes things don't go your way," Gonzalez said. "Those two pitches, if I take those back, you never know. It's a different ballgame."
"He was cleaning up his line to the plate," Renteria said. "[White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] had been talking to him about some other things to straighten him out and be over the more ball more and in line. I thought he was doing that better. He got out of a couple little jams."