**FREDI GONZALEZ
Was Maholm’s wrist hurting for long before he came out?
“No, it flared up on him in the fourth inning. He did it in Miami in his last start when he was hitting, on a checked swing or a swing. And in the fourth it flared up on him. We didn’t want to take any chances and got him out of there as soon as we saw that it was something. There was nothing there before that. We didn’t want to make something out of nothing, so we got him out of there.”
Is it a DL type of injury?
“No, I don’t think so. I know they X-rayed him here, and nothing. Everything came back negative. I think he’s waiting to see the White Sox doctor and see what they say. If we feel like it’s something more than that, then we’ll send him to our guys at home. But right now we’re just waiting.”
So he might even make his next start?
“Yeah. It all depends on how he feels. I talked to him a little bit before you (reporters) came in. He said after putting ice on it, it feels OK. But we’ll see.”
Just left some pitches down the middle?
“Yeah, left some balls over the plate, and they didn’t miss them.”
On blowing big lead
“We scored four runs right off the get-go. That’s something he’s probably upset about. We get four runs and then he goes back out and they got five runs off him. But anyway, we swung the bats. Some of the guys swung the bats. Danny got a two-run homer. Freeman swung the bat. Justin got a couple of hits. So the offense is there.
“Going out there tomorrow, Mikey (Minor) is going to have to give us some length (go deep in the game).”
On Freeman having a homer and sac fly in his first game back
“Our trainers did a hell of a job – and our doctor, Dr. Lourie – getting him healthy with that thumb not lingering for a long time.”
Rios’ big day after being benched during Friday’s game for not hustling
“What did he drive in, six? Five? It’s one of those things. Robin (Ventura, Sox manager) did what he had to do, and I’m sure there’s no hard feelings and that kind of stuff. And he put him back in the lineup today, and he produced.”
**PAUL MAHOLM
When did your wrist start hurting today?
“I think it was more just warming up in the fourth. My warmup pitches were chin-high, and it was bothering me to where I didn’t think I should keep going. It sucks. Obviously frustrating to lose three in a row whenever I’m out there, and give up a four-run lead. But I don’t think it’s anything major to where there’s any concern. Hopefully in the next day or so it’ll be good to go and I’ll be able to throw.”
Something that started bothering you in your last start?
“Yeah, sometimes when you’re hitting and doing stuff, you feel something but you just keep going and don’t really worry about it. I didn’t do a whole lot over the break, and I aggravated it (today). It’s one of those things that, obviously as a pitcher, if you have anything in your wrist and you’re not able to get loose or let it go and make your pitches … I tried to get through the warmups and get through the first few hitters and see if I could do it. It was something that just wasn’t going away.”
Before the fourth inning, you just left too many pitchers over the plate?
“Yeah, it was a case of probably feeling too good. The energy was there and obviously I got through the first two. The first inning was more pitches than I wanted, and the second inning was easy. The third inning, it wasn’t like they were crushing the ball – obviously Alex Rios did. But I pulled a couple of sinkers and a changeup, and it resulted in five runs.
“Nothing sucks worse than your guys giving you’re a 4-0 lead and you giving it back. It’s not the first time I’ve gone through a bad stretch in my career, and it’s not probably going to be the last one. It’s no fun. It’s not as if I don’t think I can correct it pretty easily. I’m going to do my best to make sure I’m able to throw my bullpen in-between and correct it. And make the adjustment to get back to where I was for the first two months of the season.”
On his bad third inning, before the wrist flared in fourth
“Nothing to pinpoint except making some bad pitches, walking a guy, and leaving balls over the middle. It was completely on me. Like I said, it sucks to do that when your team gives you a 4-0 lead, and you hand it right back. And we end up losing the game.”
On the pitch to Rios that he hit for first-pitch grand slam
“That would be placed on a tee for him. I was thinking he was going to swing on the first pitch, and I threw a sinker. It just seemed like the whole inning, whether it be sinker or changeup, it was kind of pulled and cut back toward the middle. For me, the bread-and-butter is sinker/changeup down and away. I made some bad pitches, and that was probably the worst one I could have made. And obviously he did what he was supposed to do with it.”
**ANDRELTON SIMMONS
On getting 4-0 lead after three innings
“Started off pretty good, slowed down, they had a good inning, and we never bounced back from there.”
Was Peavy pretty tough?
“I mean, he made his adjustments. We started off good, seeing the ball good. After a couple of innings, we couldn’t touch him, for the most part. Or get clutch hits to keep building up runs and catch up.”
