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White Sox’ Dunn, Beckham struggle with strikes in opener

It was a good win for the White Sox on Friday, but there were some déjà vu moments.

For example, Adam Dunn went to the plate four times and struck out four times.

Gordon Beckham was not much better, going 0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts.

All together, the Sox struck out 15 times against Tigers starter Max Scherzer (11) and three relievers. Through six games, the White Sox already have struck out 57 times, a staggering total.

“We’re going to have some guys strike out,” manager Robin Ventura said. “Today was a little more kind of the conditions. It was overcast, and it’s harder to see on these days.

“They (Tigers) were playing kind of the same thing. We had a lot of strikeouts on both sides. I’m concerned more with how our guys go up there and battle throughout the at-bat.”

Dunn was pretty good on the five-game road trip, but he already was hearing the boos from the home fans after his fourth K.

So was Beckham, who is batting .150 with 9 strikeouts in 20 at-bats.

“My day at the plate, yeah, it wasn’t my best,” Beckham said. “Whatever. I’ll come back tomorrow, same guy. I’m excited about tomorrow and what we can do.”

Beckham did not look comfortable at the plate and was asked about that.

“Does it look like I was feeling comfortable?” he said. “No, I just didn’t have a good day. I did feel pretty comfortable, so the fact I struck out three times was pretty shocking. Not a good effort.”

Box out:

The game was delayed for eight minutes in the first inning after Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera complained about the dimensions of the batter’s box.

The umpires reviewed the situation, and groundskeeper Roger Bossard and his staff erased the old box and put in a new one.

“I’ve never seen that one,” said White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. “I’ve heard guys complain about the box before, but I’ve never seen them actually come out and redo the boxes during a game.

“It’s one of those things, (Cabrera) wasn’t comfortable, and the umpires acknowledged that. It looked like they were a little pushed up, but there have been places where we go and we talk about it on the bench, ‘Hey, the box doesn’t feel right.’

“So next time it’s like that we’re going to stop the game and redo the boxes for us.”

New voice:

Before getting a rousing welcome from the sellout crowd of 38,676 at U.S. Cellular Field for Friday’s home opener, new manager Robin Ventura met with the media in the dugout.

Former manager Ozzie Guillen loved to talk and talk and talk. Sometimes he would even talk about baseball.

Guillen and Ventura played together on the left side of the White Sox’ infield from 1989-97, but the similarities end there.

“I’m not worried about creating anything with me,” Ventura said. “I want us to be a good baseball team first. I respect what they did; they got a World Series out of it. They did a lot of great things.

“But I’m not here to create my own identity. I want us to be a good baseball team.”

Ventura has been a big hit in the clubhouse so far.

“He just communicates well,” captain Paul Konerko said. “He’s around and talks to the guys. It’s just all baseball. Robin doesn’t say a whole bunch, so when he does you know he means it and you pay attention to it.

“He’s dialed in on the bench. There’s not too much time where he’s messing around on the bench. Him and (bench coach) Mark (Parent) are really paying attention to what’s going on.”

Hickey hospitalized:

Kevin Hickey, the White Sox’ batting practice pitcher and dugout cheerleader, reportedly is still hospitalized in Arlington, Texas.

Hickey was found unresponsive in his hotel room on April 5 before the Sox played the Rangers in Texas.

Hickey pitched for the Sox from 1981-83.

Without mentioning Hickey by name, manager Robin Ventura acknowledged his absence Friday.

“We’ve got a guy on our staff that’s in the hospital,” Ventura said. “That’s hard. That’s stuff you deal with that is harder than just normal baseball stuff.”

White Sox getting the job done

Images: White Sox opening day

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