Author: staff
Alex Caruso could miss Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls’ first-round playoff series after being placed in concussion protocol.Caruso took an inadvertent blow to the face from Milwaukee Bucks guard Jevon Carter in the second quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 loss. Carter’s arm swiped across Caruso’s face as he drove by the defender and appeared to make contact twice. The contact caused Caruso’s nose to bleed, which required several minutes of clean up before he could return to the game.AdvertisementAlthough Caruso insisted on playing through the quarter, coach Billy Donovan said the guard was visibly in pain and exhibited concussion symptoms in the locker room, which resulted in his removal from the game.Following further tests, Caruso was placed in concussion protocol Monday. Donovan said Caruso will be “day-to-day” as he continues to test, and the Bulls medical staff is unsure when he will be approved for contact again.Advertisement“Now it’s about how soon does he start to not have symptoms anymore before he can get back in play,” Donovan said. “His availability in Game 5 right now is up in the air.”[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bulls playoff schedule — with times and TV — for 1st-round series vs. Milwaukee Bucks ]Losing Caruso would be a blow to the Bulls as they face elimination against the Bucks on Wednesday, who currently hold a 3-1 lead with home court advantage. Caruso started as the Bulls point guard throughout the series and in the final stretch of the regular season. He has been sidelined for long swathes of this season due to injuries, including a broken wrist and back spasms. Rookie Ayo Dosunmu typically has filled in in Caruso’s absence.Besides missing a starting guard, the Bulls also lose their sharpest defensive edge without Caruso on the perimeter. Defense is a necessity for the Bulls, as they’ve averaged only 94 points per game in the series.Donovan said the Bulls expect to reassess Caruso Tuesday before the team heads up to Milwaukee to prepare for Game 5.
Weekend temperatures were warm enough in the Chicago area that some people may finally have taken their plants outside for the spring and summer seasons.But forecasters say it’s time to cover or take them back inside as the National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for late Monday into Tuesday morning. After midnight, the temperature could fall below freezing, particularly in the north, northwest and western suburbs, according to meteorologists.Advertisement“Low temperatures (Monday night) across northern Illinois away from the city of Chicago will drop to near or below freezing, posing a danger to sensitive plants and vegetation. Sensitive plants should be covered or brought indoors to protect them from the freezing temperatures,” according to the weather service.Cloudy, cool, and breezy today. Expect below normal temps to continue the next few days with near to below freezing temps tonight and tomorrow night in some areas. Much of the work week will be dry other than a few showers possible Thursday PM. #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/2MqlfMa4Ac— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) April 25, 2022
DeKalb and Dixon could drop to as low as 29 degrees overnight, while Waukegan and Elgin could see temps of 31 and 30 degrees, respectively.AdvertisementForecasters also warn that temperatures will remain below normal for most of the week. Some light showers could fall in northern Illinois Thursday and Friday, meteorologists said.For more on the forecast visit the Tribune’s weather page. Check back for updates.
The NFL draft begins Thursday night and, boy, do the Chicago Bears have a rebuilding job ahead of them. But without any first-round picks and only six selections to work with, new general manager Ryan Poles will have his work cut out for him.As the draft draws near, our team of Bears writers weighs in on four timely topics.AdvertisementExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 30Virginia McCaskey, the daughter of George Halas, took over as majority owner of the Chicago Bears in 1983. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Brad Biggs: A non-starter.The Bears need volume. They’ve got needs across the board on both sides of the ball, so bundling multiple picks to move into the first round worth much of a discussion. They’re much better off using both of their second-round picks or even sliding down a little and adding more selections. Of course, that would require finding the right trade partner.AdvertisementColleen Kane: Probably not the best option.We don’t know Poles’ draft tendencies yet, so a trade up is certainly possible. But listening to some of his comments over the last couple of months, it would seem a trade back down could be more likely. Poles only has six picks to work with this year, one of which he acquired from the Los Angeles Chargers in the Khalil Mack trade.When asked how his assessment of what he could get on Day 2 of the draft played into the Mack trade, Poles said, “It puts us in range of really good players. And at the same time, that also allows us to maneuver a little bit. Because we don’t have a ton of picks, so if there is a way to create more, we’ll be open to that.”Poles’ cautious approach in free agency has left him with many holes to fill. It also indicated he has a meter for when and when not to be aggressive, and perhaps that will extend to the draft.[ [Don’t miss] Will the Bears try to move into the 1st round? Brad Biggs’ NFL mock draft 2.0. ]Dan Wiederer: Improbable. As it stands, the Bears have only 63 players presently under contract and are working to build their roster up to 90 in the coming weeks. They have needs across all three phases and at just about every position, and enter draft week with only six picks — two second-rounders, a third, a fourth and two in the fifth. It’s far more likely Poles will trade down in either Round 2 or Round 3, adding picks to his collection, than it is that he would make an aggressive move up.Draft weekend is always unpredictable and full of hope. That’s the charm of the whole extravaganza. So for a few more days it’s fine to dream of the Bears vaulting upward with Poles making sure his first draft pick as a GM comes in the first round. But prepare for Thursday night to be uneventful at Halas Hall, a tracking experience in the team’s draft room as Poles and his staff ready themselves for a momentous Night 2.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 120Injured Bears quarterback Justin Fields walks the field on Jan. 2, 2022, before the home finale against the Giants at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Biggs: George Pickens.AdvertisementHe had some injuries at Georgia, but when he was on the field, he was a big-play machine. He’s got a chance of going in the back end of the first round, so in terms of really intriguing targets, how about North Dakota State’s Christian Watson? He’s 6-foot-4, 208 pounds and was timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.36 seconds. Add in a 38 ½-inch vertical jump and Watson is a dynamic athlete who could emerge as a top playmaker.The Bears will not find a polished future No. 1 wide receiver in the second round. But they could find a player with the skills to develop into that type of producer down the road.Kane: John Metchie III.Metchie, a 5-foot-11, 187-pound receiver from Alabama, is coming off a torn ACL in December and also played through injuries in 2020. Some draft analysts think those injuries and durability concerns could mean he’s available to the Bears at their second or third picks at Nos. 48 and 71. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes Metchie could be a “great value pick” if he drops after he totaled 96 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games before his knee injury.Bears coach Matt Eberflus played for Alabama coach Nick Saban for a season in college at Toledo, so I wonder if he puts extra stock in an evaluation like this from Saban: “This guy is the epitome of what you look for in a wide receiver. He is tough. He plays hurt. He plays physical. He gets open. He makes catches. He makes plays. He never complains.”Georgia wide receiver George Pickens is another intriguing receiver who might come at a value after he missed most of last season with a torn ACL. I’m interested to see if the Bears think either is worth the risk.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] Column: David Montgomery is embracing change at Halas Hall. How will the Chicago Bears running back fit the new scheme? ]Wiederer: John Metchie III.Metchie is likely to be available for the Bears with either of their two second-round picks and could even slip into Round 3 in a receiver class loaded with talent and depth. Coming off a December ACL tear, Metchie’s medical chart will be incredibly important for the Bears to scrutinize. (He also had ankle surgery after his sophomore season in 2020.) And he may need to ease back into practice later this summer at a rate that contending teams in need of receiver help might not have the patience for. But the Bears are in patient mode right now, building for the future more than they are pushing to win right away. So they’d have a luxury in blending Metchie into their offense at whatever rate makes most sense.Metchie is only 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds. And his speed and athleticism isn’t extraordinary. But as Ryan Poles looks for players with proven playmaking ability, Metchie checks those boxes with a Sharpie. He has shown an advanced understanding of how to feel out defenses. His route running is crisp. And last season he had 96 catches, 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns before missing almost three quarters of the SEC Championship Game plus Alabama’s two games in the College Football Playoff.ESPN senior draft analyst Todd McShay appreciates Metchie’s grit.“Metchie does all the dirty work,” McShay said. “Over the middle. On third downs, when you have to rely on a receiver, he finds a way to separate and get open. He made a lot of tough catches and I think he’s a lot better after the catch than people give him credit for.”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 46Players stretch during warmups at Bears minicamp at Halas Hall on April 20, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Biggs: Offensive and defensive lines.AdvertisementThat’s especially true if you are putting stock in what GM Ryan Poles has said — and what he’s tried to accomplish so far. Maybe there is a receiver in the second round the Bears feel like they have to grab, but Poles has spoken on the record about upgrading the offensive line and thus far the only move (beyond depth signings) has been signing center Lucas Patrick. The biggest move Poles attempted to make was signing defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi before that deal was nixed. That’s enough to lead me toward the trenches when looking at what Poles could do. From there, I think the Bears look at their draft board and determine what stands out most — a wide receiver or a cornerback. Both are real needs. There’s likely going to be a greater supply of available receivers at that point.Kane: Wide receiver and cornerback.However, there is a possibility Poles, a former Boston College offensive lineman, might disagree with me. Shortly after the Bears introduced Poles this winter, he spoke of his priorities for building around quarterback Justin Fields, indicating that starts with the offensive line.Speaking of the Cincinnati Bengals’ offseason plan last year, Poles said he might have gone with offensive tackle Penei Sewell rather than wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase at pick No. 5, even though the Bengals’ choice also worked out. So we could see Poles target an offensive lineman on Day 2, given they still have a need for a starting guard to replace James Daniels, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and could have questions at either tackle spot.[ [Don’t miss] As Roquan Smith gets acquainted with a new regime, he ‘absolutely’ wants to stay with the Chicago Bears long term ]But the Bears also have big needs at wide receiver and cornerback. The good news is the Bears have two second-round picks and a third-rounder to address those needs.AdvertisementWiederer: Sing it with us now. Get. Justin. Help.The mission to catalyze Justin Fields’ development is ongoing. And this week that means a first-time general manager must work to plug holes in his offense, both up front on the offensive line and at receiver. After all seven rounds of the draft are complete and Poles and his staff have combed through the flea market of undrafted free agency, the Bears should be hoping that they have united with a handful of potential starters on offense. They need to be aggressive in landing a playmaking receiver or two for Fields to throw to. Increased offensive line stability is never a bad thing either, with Poles certain to consider possible upgrades at tackle or on the interior of the line.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 24New Bears coach Matt Eberflus and new general manager Ryan Poles pose with a helmet after being introduced on Jan. 31, 2022, at Halas Hall. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Biggs: Focused on clearing out cap space and roster spots for the future.The Bears were bargain shoppers in free agency and that did not come as a surprise. They’re hopeful a handful of players signed to short-term contracts will emerge as good fits moving forward and earn second contracts.The Bears will have some big contracts coming off the books by 2023 — and they’ll also be whole with draft capital. Poles didn’t inherit a rehab project for a weekend warrior. It’s going to require time, some shrewd moves and then development by the coaching staff. The Bears will certainly be able to attract free agents after the draft with the pitch that they will be able to compete for playing time. There’s still a lot of work to do and judging the roster work to this point is a little premature.Kane: Just the beginning.AdvertisementPoles’ biggest offseason moves so far were trading Khalil Mack to the Chargers and opting not to sign defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi to a $40.5 million deal because of a failed physical. Poles has made some interesting short-term signings of players with something to prove, including linebacker Nicholas Morrow, wide receiver Byron Pringle and slot cornerback Tavon Young. And he will make some key additions in the draft and likely sign more free agents in the months to come.But for a Bears team in need of talent, there is a long way to go. Poles has been clear that getting the roster the way he wants it — given salary-cap restrictions and limited draft capital this year — is going to take time. And while patience may not come easily for Bears fans looking for big changes from the Ryan Pace era, Poles’ work will be better judged in about 13 months when he has been through two free agencies and drafts.Wiederer: Nondescript. But necessarily so. Poles inherited a roster that had aged and declined and was lacking top-tier talent in too many areas. His stated goal from the outset was to rebuild through the draft as much as possible while avoiding the temptation to seek out high-priced free agents or other convenient quick fixes. That’s why this becomes such a critical week.Since taking over at Halas Hall in January, Poles’ biggest transactions have been the players he has gotten rid of (Khalil Mack, Eddie Goldman, Tarik Cohen, Danny Trevathan) or opted not to re-sign (Allen Robinson, James Daniels and Akiem Hicks). A big swing at defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi wound up being a foul tip after the Bears backed out of a three-year, $40.5 million deal because of unexpected results from Ogunjobi’s team physical. The Bears’ biggest roster addition to this point this offseason? Receiver Byron Pringle, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal. Ho-hum, right?
General manager Ryan Poles, coach Matt Eberflus and their staffs could spend their first draft night with the Chicago Bears on the sideline.The Bears don’t have a first-round draft pick Thursday after former general manager Ryan Pace traded it last year to move up for quarterback Justin Fields. So unless Poles engineers another trade, the Bears will spend the night watching the board unfold and plotting their Day 2 moves, which include two second-round picks and a third-rounder.AdvertisementHere’s what you need to know about this year’s draft.Round 1 will kick off at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, followed by Rounds 2-3 at 6 p.m. Friday and Rounds 4-7 at 11 a.m. Saturday.AdvertisementLas Vegas — originally scheduled to host in 2020 before COVID-19 made the draft a virtual experience — gets the stage this year. And what a visual show it will be, with the Strip anchoring the events and a red-carpet stage at the Fountains of Bellagio.The main stage for the draft is next to Caesars Forum and behind the High Roller observation wheel.Portions of the Strip will be closed to vehicular traffic, which is a big deal in Vegas — usually reserved for New Year’s Eve and for the city’s marathon.As it stands, the Bears have the following selections:2nd round: No. 392nd round: No. 483rd round: No. 715th round: No. 1485th round: No. 1506th round: No. 186The draft will be on NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes from Thursday-Saturday.Rich Eisen leads the NFL Network team, which also includes Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, Ian Rapoport, Melissa Stark and more.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] The Chicago Bears promised to get help for Justin Fields. So what are the odds of a reunion with WR Chris Olave? ]For the first two nights on ABC, Rece Davis, Todd McShay, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Sam Ponder, Jesse Palmer, Suzy Kolber, Laura Rutledge and Robert Griffin III will be among the analysts and reporters covering the event. Mike Greenberg, Mel Kiper Jr., Louis Riddick, Booger McFarland and Chris Mortensen will lead the ESPN coverage. The ESPN broadcast will be simulcast on ABC on Saturday.Kiper, the 61-year-old analyst who has appeared on ESPN’s draft coverage every year since 1984, will be working from his Maryland home because he’s not vaccinated. NFL reporter Adam Schefter will not cover the draft because he will be attending his son’s college graduation.Most analysts agree the Bears are most in need of offensive linemen, wide receivers and cornerbacks as they enter Poles’ first draft.AdvertisementIn Brad Biggs’ first Tribune mock draft, he suggested the Bears could pick Alabama cornerback Josh Jobe and wide receiver John Metchie III with their second-round selections. Biggs’ second mock draft sent Tulsa offensive tackle Tyler Smith and Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam to the Bears in the second round. Check back for Biggs’ third mock draft this week.In ESPN’s three-round mock draft, Kiper and McShay had the Bears take Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green, Elam and Kentucky defensive end Josh Paschal.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 30Virginia McCaskey, the daughter of George Halas, took over as majority owner of the Chicago Bears in 1983. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Some of the most notable moves Poles made in his low-key first few months were letting go of former Bears players. He traded Khalil Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers, let Allen Robinson, Akiem Hicks, James Daniels and Bilal Nichols go into free agency, and released Eddie Goldman, Danny Trevathan and Tarik Cohen.After nixing the Larry Ogunjobi deal because of a failed physical, Poles’ biggest additions have been center Lucas Patrick, defensive tackle Justin Jones, defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, wide receiver Byron Pringle, linebacker Nicholas Morrow and backup quarterback Trevor Siemian. But the GM still has a lot of roster spots to fill.Read about all the Bears moves so far here.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 120Injured Bears quarterback Justin Fields walks the field on Jan. 2, 2022, before the home finale against the Giants at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)This will be the third time in four years the Bears haven’t had a first-round pick.AdvertisementPace sacrificed the pick last year to get Fields at No. 11 and also traded up to pick offensive tackle Teven Jenkins at No. 39. Pace also traded the Bears’ first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 to acquire Mack.The Bears’ top picks in 2020 were second-rounders Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson, as well as fifth-rounders Darnell Mooney, Trevis Gipson and Kindle Vildor. In 2019, the Bears’ first pick was third-rounder David Montgomery, and the only other player from that five-person class still with the Bears is cornerback Duke Shelley.[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bears Q&A: Is there a position no one is talking about to target in Round 2? Who is playing left tackle to start minicamp? ]Before that, inside linebacker Roquan Smith, quarterback Mitch Trubisky, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and wide receiver Kevin White were Pace’s first four first-round picks. Smith, the No. 8 pick in 2018, is the only one of those four still with the team.[ [Don’t miss] As Roquan Smith gets acquainted with a new regime, he ‘absolutely’ wants to stay with the Chicago Bears long term ]There are a few — but mostly in later rounds. Here are some key names to watch for. (Projections based on a consensus of seven-round mock drafts by The Athletic, CBSSports.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com and Sporting News)S Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame, 1st roundDT Perrion Winfrey, Oklahoma (Lake Park), 1st-3rdWR Alec Pierce, Cincinnati (Glenbard West), 2nd-4thS Kerby Joseph, Illinois, 3rd-5thDT John Ridgeway, Arkansas (Bloomington), 3rd-6thRB Kyren Williams, Notre Dame, 4th-5thWR Kevin Austin, Notre Dame, 4th-7thQB Jack Coan, Notre Dame, 4th-7thLB Jack Sanborn, Wisconsin (Lake Zurich), 4th-7thOT Vederian Lowe, Illinois (Rockford Auburn), 5th-7thC Doug Kramer, Illinois (Hinsdale Central), 7th-FALB Jake Hansen, Illinois, 7th-FAP Blake Hayes, Illinois, 7th-FADE Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Notre Dame, 7th-FAOT Andrew Rupcich, Culver-Stockton (McHenry), 7th-FACOVID-19 disrupted the draft process the last two years.AdvertisementIn 2020, the NFL and its teams conducted the draft virtually, with general managers and coaches working from home to make picks. Last year in the pre-draft process, the NFL canceled the scouting combine and didn’t allow in-person prospect visits. Teams were allowed back in their facilities to draft, but there were some restrictions for teams that didn’t have fully vaccinated personnel.This year, the process mostly has been back to normal. The combine and in-person prospect visits returned, and the NFL dropped its COVID-19 restrictions in March. Barring an outbreak, the Bears should be able to operate as usual from their draft room at Halas Hall.Here are some fun NFL draft facts with a Chicago angle:Chicago hosted the festivities in 1938, 1942-43, 1951, 1962-64 and 2015-16. Before 2015, the draft had been held in New York. But after Chicago, the draft has traveled to Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville, Tenn., and Cleveland.A University of Chicago halfback was the first player chosen in an NFL draft. The Eagles made Jay Berwanger the No. 1 pick on Feb. 8, 1936, during the nine-round event at Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton. Berwanger had won the inaugural Heisman Trophy and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the best player in the Big Ten when the Maroons were members of the conference. But he never played a down in the NFL.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 15George Halas Jr., from left, Abe Gibron, former Chicago Bears player, and Phil Handler, line coach for the Bears, sit at the Bears table during the NFL draft Dec. 2, 1963, at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago. (Eddie Wagner, Sr., Chicago Tribune)
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s tough to win when you don’t score many runs.That has been the case for the Chicago White Sox, who recently had a stretch of nine straight games in which they scored three runs or less.AdvertisementThat streak came to an end Sunday, but the Sox still dropped their seventh straight game with a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings at Target Field.Manager Tony La Russa sees a group that is pressing at the plate. Hitting coach Frank Menechino agrees.Advertisement“Right now the mental game is beating us, the mental part of the game is beating us down,” Menechino said before Sunday’s game. “And that can’t happen because when you’re not getting hits and not scoring runs and you start taking your at-bats to the field, that’s not good.“All of a sudden, runners are in scoring position, you hit the ball hard and you don’t get a hit and now the snowball effect starts happening. You’ve got to pull yourself together mentally first before you get out of this. You’ve got to take one at-bat at a time, you’ve got to be able to separate yourself from the results. Quality at-bats. Get back into it. But mentally, you’ve got to get back into the grind. You’ve got to be able to work, you’ve got to start making adjustments and that takes the mental part of the game.”The Sox entered Sunday slashing .189/.245/.302 in their last 11 games.Menechino said Sox hitters have been altering their swings during that stretch.Said Menechino: “A lot of guys, when it’s cold out, they don’t want to get jammed, they don’t want to hit it off the end of the bat. So now they’re altering their swings. You can’t do that.”Menechino said the Sox are seeing a lot sliders and off-speed pitches and have to do a better job hitting the ball the other ways.“You’re getting slider guys, you try to pull them, you’ve got no chance,” he said. “But when you’re not feeling good and you’re trying to do too much, the normal thing for hitters to do is ‘I want to get the head out, I want to feel hard contact. I want to barrel the ball.’ And the natural evolution to that is to think-pull, when it’s the opposite.“We’ve got to stay up the middle the other way. And that’s what has to happen or it’s going to stay like this.”AdvertisementMenechino pointed to the approach the team took April 13 against the Seattle Mariners as one to try to duplicate. The Sox hit three solo home runs against 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray in a 6-4 victory.The Sox had 10 hits in the win. That was the last time they had scored at least four runs in a game until Sunday.“That was a great job that night,” Menechino said. “You had such a good night against such a good pitcher who did really good against us (in the past) and you’re like, ‘OK, we accomplished that.’ I don’t know, you have to talk to the players, but sometimes after that high, is it cocky, is it ‘Oh, we got this?’ I don’t know. But the thing is, that approach works against everybody. Especially the way they want to pitch us. They know we can hit fastballs, so you know what, it’s time to make an adjustment.”Menechino thinks the hitters have been more aggressive this season, especially on fastballs.“Teams have recognized that and now they’re going to try to make us have patience, they’re going to tease us in and out of the zone, especially with off-speed,” Menechino said. “If you’re not taking your walks, you’re falling into their plan.”The Sox rank 29th in the majors with 33 walks.Advertisement“You have to be more selective and have a plan for what they’re doing to you,” Menechino said. “You’ve got to make adjustments. We have to make the adjustment now of what the other teams are doing to us and that starts where?” Menechino pointed to his head.“Mentally,” he said. “Take your base hits. Base hit them to death. The Cubs scored 21 runs (Saturday), one homer.“We have the ability to do that. We did it last year. I have some stuff I’m going to start focusing on with these guys. But we have to come mentally prepared.”
Echaka Agba and Adhana Reid read the parts of Joy and Eva, a mother-daughter duo in the play “Southside Summer,” describing at his funeral how the character Eva’s younger brother Emmanuel was killed.“Emmanuel loved running around the house, staring out at the world before him,” Agba said to a crowd of about 50 people at the Goodman Theatre on Wednesday night. “Every day during the summer, he’d watch the other kids play, occasionally asking me if he could go outside. Though he knew I would say, ‘No. It’s not safe. Maybe tomorrow.’”AdvertisementThe play goes on to describe Emmanuel and his sister playing outside on a fateful day when gunshots did ring out in the neighborhood and kids start running, ducking behind cars. In the play, Eva tells Emmanuel to run home. He listens to his sister, and is approached by a police officer who fatally shoots him.The play, read by professional actors, was written by Englewood resident McKennzie Boyd, 16. It’s one of eight plays chosen by the #Enough: Plays to End Gun Violence project, which aims to spark conversation about gun violence through the voices of youths across the country. It’s intended to be a way to provide a glimpse into the worlds of the young writers.AdvertisementYouths from grades 6 to 12 submit a 10-minute play for consideration. The selected playwrights then go through edits and readings with professional playwrights and actors, fine-tuning their work as they prepare it for staged readings across the country.On Wednesday, actors at the Goodman Theatre performed a reading of the plays, including Boyd’s “Southside Summer” and Buffalo Grove resident Wyn Alyse Thomas’ “Write Their Wrongs.” The project also had a flagship reading Wednesday night at the Lincoln Center in New York, and several other theaters hosted readings across the country simultaneously.The project has three goals, or as Michael Cotey, producer of the project, calls it, three acts. Act 1 is writing the plays, giving young people space on the stage to find their voice and talk about violence issues. Act 2 is the readings, where partnerships are created with theaters and theater groups nationally. Act 3 is seeing how the plays will influence people who attended the readings.“If this project could do its job completely, it wouldn’t exist. We wouldn’t have to provide this outlet,” Cotey said. “Sadly, I don’t think that day is going to come anytime soon, but in the meantime what we can do is that we can tell meaningful stories. Get people in communities across the country to gather and talk about them. And encourage people to take that into their daily life and do good in their communities.”Cotey hopes the plays and programs “move the needle in some way” to raise awareness about gun violence and to help prevent it.“It’s not normal but it has been woven into the fabric of what it means to grow up as a kid in this country,” Cotey said.Boyd’s play was in part inspired by her recent move to Englewood, where initially she used to stare out her window at the other kids playing outside.She didn’t lose her brother to a police killing, but she was at one point afraid to join the kids in her neighborhood outside. Her parents were also scared to let her venture out. And she has mourned the loss of people in her neighborhood who have been victims of gun violence.AdvertisementWhen Boyd first moved from Calumet City to Englewood with her family three years ago, she avoided telling people where she lived because the neighborhood carried a negative connotation, she said. Everything she’d seen on the news and heard from people who talked about Englewood made her feel unsafe and ashamed, she said.But in the last year, she’s learned to love her new neighborhood, making friends and appreciating everything the media didn’t show her about Englewood, she said.“In the beginning it was about defying what society wanted me to believe,” she said as she learned to open up to her new home. “And then it evolved to something of: They can’t tell me that I can’t love this. This is my neighborhood. It came to be not just a house but a home.”As she learned to love her new neighborhood, both from her own experiences and from talking to longtime residents about their experiences there, Boyd wrote the poem titled “Southside Summer.”“It really showed me how much you don’t really know until you’re in the moment. When you have nothing to do but to face the demon head-on and call its bluff,” Boyd said. “I want people to see the beauty of my home, even with all its nooks and crannies and the cracks that people would call problems. And they don’t have to love it. I just want them to see truly what I love.She decided to turn the poem into a play and submit it to #Enough. The reading at the Goodman Theatre was one of 66 readings in 31 cities nationwide.AdvertisementCotey, artistic producer of #Enough: Plays on Gun Violence, was in rehearsal at the Goodman Theatre on Feb. 14, 2018, when news broke that 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He and his colleagues at the theater sat with the news, discussed it for a few minutes, then got back to rehearsal, Cotey said.He remembers thinking: “What are we doing rehearsing a play when this thing keeps happening and it can happen in the middle of a rehearsal and we just sort of get back to normal life?”He thought the theater should be responding to mass shootings and gun violence in some way. Cotey saw the youth movements that stemmed from the Parkland shooting, young people organizing March for Our Lives protests.Myshayla Echols, 13, creates a drawing about how she sees a dangerous neighborhood in contrast to a safe neighborhood during a community discussion prior to a stage reading performance about gun violence at the Goodman Theatre. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)Seeing those movements, it became clear to him that “what we need to do is make space for our young people to occupy our stages and tell us the stories that they want to tell,” he said.It would take another two mass shootings in 2019 — one on Aug. 3 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed, and another a day later at a bar in Dayton, Ohio, where a gunman killed nine people including his sister — for Cotey to realize he had to move forward with launching the project.In 2020, seven plays were selected out of more than 170 submissions, Cotey said. This year, the two Chicagoland playwrights — Boyd and Thomas — were among more than 150 youths who submitted a play in the fall of 2021.AdvertisementSince launching the project, Cotey has learned a lot from the young playwrights, he said.“The more I’ve been working on this project, the more I’ve learned about how this issue impacts people in different communities in different ways,” Cotey said.The project has also affected communities by creating partnerships between theaters in those areas and organizations working to reduce or prevent gun violence.In Chicago, for example, the Goodman Theatre on Wednesday hosted members of Something Good in Englewood, a nonprofit group, to discuss how people in Englewood are affected by gun violence and what solutions could help.Before the play readings, kids in sixth to eighth grade presented poems, an acrostic and a description of artwork related to gun violence in front of about 20 people.The group also created artwork answering the question: How would your community look or feel without gun violence? Using colored pencils and clay, participants from elementary school to seniors drew kids playing on a playground, groups of people together, green grass, flowers and gardens growing.AdvertisementEach of the eight plays took a different approach to examining gun violence. “It’s Okay”, written by Anya Jimenez of Brooklyn, New York, shows a grieving mother in a dream, speaking to an unknown voice, slowly realizing her 10-year-old child was killed in a shooting at her elementary school.In “In My Sights,” written by Tain Leonard-Peck of West Tisbury, Massachusetts, the gun is the main character as it moves from its maker’s home to its new owners to the hands of a person who stole it. Once it’s used to hurt a couple, the gun starts to question whether it’s meant for protection or to cause pain.Attendees applaud during a stage reading in the #Enough: Plays to End Gun Violence project at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago on April 20, 2022. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)“Salted Lemonade,” by Taylor Lafayette of Benoit, Mississippi, tells the story of an 18-year-old boy who convinces his mother to go out with friends after Thanksgiving dinner. Still mourning her late husband’s fatal shooting, Lisa, the mother, feels the only way to know her son is safe is by keeping him home.But after her son leaves to meet with friends, a gunman shows up at Lisa’s door, threatening her and her sister. The play ends with Lisa begging the gunman for mercy, a cliffhanger as the audience never finds out whether he pulled the trigger.That play stood out to Matthew Martinez Hannon, one of about 50 people in the audience.“I think in a way it was the one that seemed to sort of deal with the issue the least,” Martinez Hannon said. “And yet, that sort of turn at the end where it’s like you feel like you’re safe and the place that you’ve made safe ultimately isn’t safe because the danger is encroaching on all of us whether we recognize it or not and whether we think we’re safe or not.”AdvertisementMartinez Hannon said it was incredible to see how much life experiences and the youths’ ability to articulate those experiences came across in the plays, showing a “sense of maturity,” in both the subject and the structure of the pieces.“I’m still processing it because it ended up being very impactful in a way that I didn’t expect,” Martinez Hannon said.Wyn Alyse Thomas, 18, has written three plays about gun violence since 2018.Thomas lived in northern Florida until she was 7 years old, when her family moved to the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove.She was in eighth grade when she learned that one of the students injured in the Parkland shooting was a childhood friend of hers.Thomas wasn’t allowed to participate in school protests and walkouts with her classmates in response to the shooting. She wanted to do something to help her make sense of what she was feeling and of what was happening. So she wrote a play.Advertisement“Writing plays is what I feel gives me power to do something about this issue because it’s what I know how to do,” Thomas said. “I want to keep doing this because it’s all I know to do to help.”In her play, “Writing Their Wrongs,” four students discuss writing something powerful enough that it will persuade lawmakers to change gun laws to help prevent more school shootings.The four students in the piece recently experienced a school shooting of their own and their discussion gets contentious as they process what happened to them.The character most adamant about taking action was the least affected by the shooting, hiding in a corner. Of the other characters, one witnessed the shooting, another was injured, and the third lost her brother in the shooting.“I want people to see that it shouldn’t just be up to the survivors of these horrific events to try and change policy and change what’s going on,” Thomas said. “I think it should be up to everyone else because they should be allowed to grieve and process what’s happened to them.”Gun violence has affected Boyd in many ways throughout her childhood, starting before she moved to Englewood.AdvertisementShe remembers being out with her dad and her sister shopping when her dad turned her around and pushed her and her sister toward a closet in the back of the store. People were swearing, crying and praying, she said. She was about 10 years old, and she remembers her dad telling her to stay quiet.“And we did. For a long time, actually. And there was no one in that room that could’ve told me that it was going to be OK and I would believe them,” she said.“Eventually the police came over and knocked on the door and it made everyone scared until he looked through the window and saw everybody cowering in this corner. Men. Women. A baby. Just afraid. We got out, we paid for our stuff and we came home.”She has another memory, also from when she was a young girl: She and her family were at a reunion picnic. She said she remembers people suddenly screaming and running toward her up a hill at the park. She remembers her uncle tackling her and covering her, telling her to stay quiet as she tried to understand what was happening, she said.It wasn’t until recent years, as she’s gotten older, that she realized how scary those moments were. She realizes those could have been her final moments, she said.“I was less than 13 years old,” she said. “Kids shouldn’t have to think about that. But we do, and we have to.”Advertisementscasanova@chicagotribune.com
It may be some time before people can walk through Illinois hospitals, doctors’ offices and nursing homes barefaced, despite mask mandates dropping on buses, planes and trains last week.On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker amended the state’s mask mandate so that it no longer applies to trains and buses after a federal judge in Florida voided the national mask mandate for transportation and major airlines pulled back their masking requirements. Masking requirements in most stores and schools ended earlier this year.AdvertisementHealth care settings, however, remain some of the last places in Illinois where everyone must continue to cover their mouths and noses. The state still requires masks in hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, physician offices, dental offices and outpatient care centers, in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the state health department.Registered nurse Paolo Salvallon wears his face mask as he checks in on patient Ismael Sanchez at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood on April 22, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Illinois is not considering lifting its mandate for hospitals and other health care settings “at the moment,” said Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Pritzker, in an email Thursday. That’s despite hospitals in some states, including Texas and Iowa, beginning to roll back their mask requirements.AdvertisementLocal hospital leaders say Illinois’ continued mask mandate for health care settings is just fine with them.“We would mandate it anyway,” said Dr. Richard Freeman, regional chief clinical officer for Loyola Medicine, which has three hospitals in the Chicago area. “Anybody in the hospital, all our personnel are still masked, visitors still have to be masked. That is not going to change in the foreseeable future.”That’s partly because many patients in the hospital are immunocompromised, meaning they’re more at risk if they catch COVID-19. Also, many people who go to hospitals have undiagnosed conditions that sometimes turn out to be COVID-19, he said.Sinai Chicago, which has two acute care Chicago hospitals, will continue to follow guidance from the CDC and state health department, said Dr. Russell Fiorella, chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs.Sinai had zero admitted patients with COVID-19 as of Thursday. But the masks add an extra layer of protection, Fiorella said.“As it stands now, I think it’s a comfort to our patients, it’s a comfort to our caregivers,” Fiorella said. “It provides safety. We’re comfortable as a system with that.”Patient care technician Eimann Joseph Mago checks vitals and orders on a computer at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood on April 22, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Esperanza Health Centers, which has community health centers on the West and Southwest sides of the city, also has no problem continuing to follow the state’s mandate, given that patients who don’t know they have COVID-19 may sometimes visit Esperanza’s clinics, said Dr. Ana Cortez, medical department administrator.“I think it’s really important to keep protecting the patients and the staff,” Cortez said.AdvertisementVisitors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Friday had mixed opinions about continued mask mandates in hospitals.Camille Baxter, 62, of Oak Park, said continuing to require masks at hospitals makes sense to her.“The health care system has been so impacted by the pandemic, and you never know who’s been exposed to what,” said Baxter, who accompanied her husband to the hospital for treatment. She said she’s continued to wear masks in other indoor, crowded settings as well.“We’re all uncomfortable. I’d love not to wear it,” she said. But, “to me, if it protects me and others it’s a small thing I can do.”Tom Streible, however, said masks should no longer be mandated in hospitals. Streible, 66, of Romeoville, was at the hospital Friday while his fiancee underwent surgery.He said he’s already received three shots of the vaccine, so he doesn’t feel that he needs a mask, though he wore one in the hospital Friday in compliance with the rules. People who are immunocompromised or at high risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 may still want to wear masks, he said, but not everyone should have to.Advertisement“It should be your own preference,” he said.
Dear Amy: My psychiatrist suggested I write to you because none of the professionals we’ve consulted have an answer.I had two children with a selfish, emotionally abusive man. I divorced him at my psychologist’s suggestion so my children would not see and experience his awful behavior.AdvertisementI had custody of the children. His few opportunities for visitation were lost due to his abuse. When the kids were older, he got visitation and spent most of the time trying to turn the kids against me.My daughter was able to forgive him when she was an adult because he mellowed and she wanted to have some connection with him, despite his faults.AdvertisementMy son, however, caved to his pressure and has not had any contact with me in 20 years.My daughter maintains a close relationship with her brother to this day.My son is getting married. He evidently believes I might show up and make a scene, even though I have not been invited. (People often accuse others of things they are capable of doing themselves!) My ex won’t be in the same room with me.My daughter is going to be in the wedding, but won’t tell me about it.I moved across the country to be with her and her kids.I’m the good mom — the extra good mom that did everything. (My daughter is a doctor.) My ex-husband is a bad man. He’s made my son a bad man.Why is my daughter participating in their family events, while I’m the one babysitting her kids?Shouldn’t she stop enabling this hate campaign against me?Advertisement– WonderingDear Wondering: You seem to be advice-shopping, and I assume your psychiatrist is recommending that you ask my opinion because your practice is to reject the advice you’ve been given and go on the hunt for a different answer.I assume you have researched “parental alienation,” and if so, you will see that your son’s attitude toward you might be the result of his father’s behavior. However, in my opinion, you are also practicing a form of this, in your attempt to force your daughter to align completely with you.It should not be her job to advocate for you in such a challenging situation. She is doing what many children of toxic divorces do: she is adjusting her scuba mask and wading in, trying her hardest to get her own needs met without being figuratively dashed against the rocks by an angry parent.You paint yourself as “the good mom” and your ex and son as “bad men,” and as long as you see the world in such absolutes, your daughter will be forced to behave this way. You should never expect a child to completely renounce a parent, because – for better or for worse – that parent is a part of them.If you don’t want to babysit your grandchildren, don’t! But don’t use them as further ammunition in your ongoing war against your ex.AdvertisementDear Amy: My dad and his wife live in Texas. I live in Florida.My father and stepmother, “Darcy,” have been married for 40 years.Neither of them work, and they are always home together.EVERY time I speak to my father, Darcy is in the background making comments and offering unwanted opinions regarding what we are trying to talk about.My dad ignores it, but it is so irritating and disruptive that it makes me not want to talk to him.Any advice?Advertisement– Frustrated SonDear Son: You should assume that when you and your father speak by phone, your conversation isn’t private, even if “Darcy” isn’t in the background, weighing in. If you want to communicate with your father uninterrupted, a weekly email exchange might work best.It is genuinely challenging to talk to two people on the phone at the same time. You might want to start your calls by talking to Darcy and expressing an interest in her doings. Then you could ask, “Dad, could you step into the other room? I’d love to talk privately for a few minutes.”Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.Dear Amy: Thank you so much for your response to “Bay Area Stepmom Cook,” who refused to omit onions from her dishes, even though her stepdaughter’s husband had an aversion to them.My mother-in-law respected my dislike/aversion to garlic. It was just like you said: Every time she thoughtfully left out the garlic (or served me separately), I honestly did feel loved.– GarluckedAdvertisementDear Garlucked: I’ve received a huge response to this question. Thank you.Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.
The Chicago Cubs dropped the series finale to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field, a 4-3 loss Sunday after breaking out the bats for a 21-0 win the day before. Here are three takeaways from the four-game series in which the Cubs went 1-3. Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (35) throws during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, April 24, 2022, at Wrigley Field. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)The 25-year-old went just 5⅔ innings in two starts — both losses — against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and the Pirates on Sunday, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits and seven walks with only three strikeouts.AdvertisementSteele (1-2) struggled to control his four-seam fastball and slider early Sunday.“As the game went on, kind of lost command of my four-seam and started losing my breaking ball arm side,” Steele said. “I felt like it was a bunch of deep counts.”AdvertisementThe Cubs pulled him after three innings after he gave up three runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts.“I think I was kind of getting tired,” Steele said. “My front side was leaking a little bit instead of staying back on my back leg and keeping my ear over the rubber. That’s something that really helps. When I’m doing those two things, I feel like I command the ball a lot better.”Steele started the season looking fairly strong, keeping the Milwaukee Brewers scoreless while fanning five batters April 9. He turned in a solid, 4⅓-inning performance at Colorado on April 14.“When he does find those moments of (being) not synced up, it’s finding a rhythm to get back to that,” Cubs manager David Ross said before the game. “Just continue to grow, be himself, I think is going to be key throughout the season. Making sure we’re there to support him through the ups and downs of being a major-league starter.”Fans cheer after Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ (8) hit a home run during the eighth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, April 24, 2022, at Wrigley Field. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)Ross doesn’t mind that the Cubs rank toward the middle of the majors with 13 home runs.The Cubs have poured on the runs as steadily as April rain showers, tallying a league-leading 81 runs entering Sunday. Granted, roughly a quarter of that came in Saturday’s 21-0 beatdown of Pittsburgh.“No complaints,” Ross said. “Twenty-one and airtight defense.”That’ll do. But what the Cubs skipper really loved was the how.AdvertisementIn addition to being the largest shutout win since at least 1901, Saturday was the first time the Cubs piled on at least 21 runs with one or fewer home runs since a 24-2 win over the Boston Braves in 1945.“I like home runs,” Ross said. “Everyone likes home runs. But I think we’re built to be contact-based.“What I liked was it was (to) all fields. It was down the lines, beat some shifts there, finding holes. They made a couple mistakes. I feel like the barrel on the baseball puts a lot of pressure on the defense. A lot more things can go your way.”All nine starters recorded hits, starting on a single from outfielder Seiya Suzuki in the Cubs’ second at-bat of the game.The Pirates also provided a bit of help in the field with five errors over the weekend. The Cubs opened the scoring Sunday when Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes couldn’t get his glove on a bouncing grounder from Willson Contreras.There still is room for improvement, Ross said, even though the Cubs started Sunday with more hits (135) than any other team.Advertisement“We’re just going to have to continue to grind the at-bats, continue to grow and get better, get the ball in the air a little bit more at times,” Ross said.Ian Happ — who earlier in the week wore a shirt that said “Launch angle is overrated” — obliged Ross on Sunday with a home run to left-center that had a 23-degree launch angle.Chicago Cubs’ Michael Hermosillo watches his two-run double off Pittsburgh Pirates starter José Quintana in the second inning, April 22, 2022, at Wrigley Field. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)The Cubs outfielder admitted he was relieved to notch his first hit of the season Friday night — a two-run double in a 4-2 defeat.The Ottawa, Ill., native snapped an 0-for-12 start at the plate with the double. He followed it up Saturday with a pinch-hit single.“It’s something hard to ignore,” Hermosillo told the Tribune on Saturday. “But I feel like my results, maybe not having the results of the play, but I’d had good at-bats. I wasn’t too concerned, it was more about continuing to get the opportunity and take advantage of it.“Definitely a little weight off the shoulders, but I definitely feel like there’s some other hits that could’ve (fallen) that just didn’t. Kind of just tried to stay with the process.”AdvertisementChicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Hermosillo joked with teammates that he needed to keep the ball from Friday’s breakthrough as a souvenir.“You could tell he was relieved,” first baseman Frank Schwindel said Saturday. “He’s an awesome teammate and a great guy to have around.”The Cubs re-signed Hermosillo to a one-year, $600,000 deal after he made 16 appearances last season before a forearm strain cut his season short in September.Schwindel said Hermosillo had been putting in plenty of work behind the scenes during the slump.“The hardest thing to do is hit in the big leagues,” Schwindel said. “It’s even harder when you’ve got to come off the bench and do it or aren’t getting those starts every day. It’s great to see because his preparation is just as good as anybody. He’s in the (batting) cage, he’s watching video, he’s staying ready and doing everything he can to be ready for those moments.”AdvertisementGavin Good is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
MINNEAPOLIS — Lucas Giolito returned to the mound but the Chicago White Sox couldn’t return to the win column.The Sox let two late leads slip away and completed a dismal trip with a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 10 innings Sunday in front of 16,197 at Target Field.AdvertisementByron Buxton hit a game-ending three-run homer off closer Liam Hendriks, handing the Sox their seventh consecutive loss. It’s the team’s first seven-game losing streak since Aug. 27-Sept. 2, 2019.“We did some things but not enough of them and we got beat,” manager Tony La Russa said Sunday. “It’s a tough loss. We all shared in it. Final score with the whole road trip, we’re all part of it and we’ll all wear it.”AdvertisementThe skid started April 17 at home when the Sox dropped the series finale to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox then lost three in Cleveland and three more in Minnesota. According to the postgame notes, it’s the fist time the Sox have gone at least 0-6 on a single trip since April 29-May 5, 2008.“Just got to keep grinding it out,” said shortstop Tim Anderson, who went 2-for-5 with a home run. “Nobody is going to really give us anything. We’ve just got to keep competing.“It’s still early. We’ve got a whole season. We’ll take our punches now. Just keep chipping away. That’s all we can do, honestly.”Danny Mendick’s leadoff home run in the seventh gave the Sox a 3-1 lead. But reliever Aaron Bummer walked José Godoy to begin the bottom of the inning and Buxton followed with a two-run homer to tie the game.Mendick scored in the 10th on a two-out single by Yasmani Grandal to put the Sox back ahead.Hendriks, who La Russa said was dealing with some back stiffness, walked Godoy in the bottom of the 10th, giving the Twins runners on first and second with one out. With Buxton at the plate again, the runners advanced on a wild pitch.“There’s an option (with first base open),” La Russa said. “Pitch him tough. But the guy on deck (Luis Arraez) is hitting (.354) and he feasts on fastballs. You give a pitcher a chance to make a pitch. He tried to bounce a curveball, created second and third.Advertisement“Any time you load the bases you better have a significant advantage with the guy on deck. Because you’re playing right into his hands and the guy on deck is a tough out. We had a better chance to do what (Giolito) did to him the first couple times up (striking him out three times).”Buxton hit a 3-1 fastball 469 feet for the game-winning home run, continuing the Sox’s free fall.“The losses are significant and they’re tough to take,” La Russa said. “But this is the first month of a season so it’s important to figure out what they did, what we didn’t do and next time we face them make an adjustment, but get ready for Kansas City (on Tuesday).”There were not many positives for the Sox on a trip that saw struggles offensively and defensively, and an injury to left fielder Eloy Jiménez (right hamstring strain). But they did get Giolito back.The right-hander made his first start since opening day at Detroit, when he exited after four innings with an abdominal strain.He allowed one run on four hits with nine strikeouts and three walks in four innings Sunday.Advertisement“It took me a little bit to get going,” Giolito said. “It was kind of like a ramp up as the game went on, the fourth inning was the best I’ve felt this year.“I wanted to go out for the fifth, but I had a pretty strict pitch limit on me and I wasn’t efficient enough, unfortunately. I thought I threw the ball well.”Giolito struck out four of the final five batters he faced. He exited after 76 pitches and with the Sox ahead 2-1.But Buxton and the Twins found a way to spoil the return. The Sox look to regroup Tuesday against the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field.“Use the off day (Monday) to our advantage and kind of hit the reset button,” Giolito said. “It’s very early in the season. At the end of the season, we’re going to have more than nine losses.“It’s unfortunate to take some in a stretch like this, but I just think with the group we have, we just come together and go play good baseball next week and set the tone there and keep building.”