WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — White Sox general manager Chris Getz signed closer Seranthony Dominguez to a two-year, $20 million deal to lock down exactly the kind of situation he walked into Thursday against Tampa Bay.
Staked to a 3-2 ninth-inning lead and facing the heart of the order, Dominguez promptly served up a game-tying home run to Junior Caminero, then gave up a single, walk and a wild pitch before hitting a batter and getting the hook en route to a deflating 5-3 loss.
Dominguez served up a crunch-time homer to Christian Yelich on opening weekend in Milwaukee, too, and his ERA ballooned to 7.50 following his second blown save.
But don’t call it buyer’s remorse just yet.
“It was an outing in which he wasn't at his best, certainly. But our confidence in him is not going to change just because of one outing,” manager Will Venable said Friday of Dominguez, who has been sharp in most of his other five outings. “We still have confidence that he can go out there and help us win games at the back end of our bullpen.”
Not o-Kay?
Sox left-hander Anthony Kay wasn’t thrilled to find out “like 10 minutes before” Thursday’s game that he’d be throwing in bulk, facing the sixth Rays hitter behind opener Jordan Leasure.
“It’s not really ideal,” said Kay, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal in the offseason This story originally appeared in Chicago Sun-Times.
