Pregame notes: Sean Burke looks to restore the vibes

Sean Burke has stopped a couple small skids and salvaged some series during his torrid run over his last six outings, which has seen put together 38 2/3 innings of 1.40 ERA ball, with 47 strikeouts compared to six walks.

For a White Sox team that is actively hunting a controllable starting pitcher on the trade market and on off nights, looks like they could use two, Burke is just trying to wash out the taste of a eight-run top of the sixth on Friday night that still has Will Venable baffled.

"They are all different," Venable began. "I will tell you last night’s is harder to shake. A lot of games we’ve played, we review what we could have done better as a group, or what I could have done better with decisions--you look back and it’s probably pretty easy to put your finger on it. That sixth inning last night, whether maybe some of the timing as to whether we dropped [Bryan Hudson] in the right place or not, I’m not sure.

I thought we had the right guys yesterday. We didn’t make any errors. We didn’t have any plays on the field that you could say this lead to a big inning. It kind of all didn’t work out and we also have to give the Astros credit. As someone who likes to look for a reason why things didn’t go well, last night there wasn’t anything that really stood out."

Haunting memories aside, one thing Venable did kind of shoot down was the idea that innings limits will affect Burke nor Davis Martin down the stretch.

"That was something that was more casting a shadow over us last year, where it was kind of the 140[-inning] mark; that was the first time that those guys had gotten to that mark," Venable said. "So having done that last year, you go into this year without an innings cap. You just need to be mindful between starts and having an idea of where they're at, physically, mentally and those things. But as far as innings go, that's not something that's going to limit us or drive what we do."

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It makes a bit more sense now that William Bergolla Jr. first rehab game in the ACL only lasted three innings, but not in a good way. The team announced that Bergolla suffered a right fibular stress fracture during that game. They have not yet provided a timeline, but he's expected to miss the rest of the season and is unlikely to be an option for the Arizona Fall League.

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Rookie outfielder Braden Montgomery is hitting .344/.382/.563 over his last eight games. He's also running a 57.7 percent ground ball rate since being called up. For someone who has just 36 major league games under his belt, Venable is taking heart in the fact that he's been a useful contributor, even if the player they expect long-term has not arrived in full force just yet.

"I think you're seeing him be a lot more athletic with his lower half, giving him a chance to be on time," Venable said. "We're just trying to win a baseball game, he's doing everything he can to contribute to do that. To see him go out there and grind and use the whole field is awesome. But I think there's a version of him which is exciting which he's going to be pulling the ball hard in the air and doing some damage."

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The Sox would also like to add a leverage relief arm and a catcher who can take over starting reps while Kyle Teel is sidelined before the Aug. 3 deadline. Nothing shocking about that, but just so we're all on the same page.

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