White Sox bench OF Luis Robert for not running out grounder - ESPN

CHICAGO — After jogging lightly to first base on a ground ball back to the pitcher, White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr was pulled from the team's 12-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Robert hit a ground ball to the third-base side of the mound, where Rays pitcher Calvin Faucher fielded it and threw to first. It likely would have been a close play if not for Robert taking it easy down the line.

Afterward, Robert said he didn't run it out because he was hurting.

«What happened was, last [Friday] night, I hustled a lot down the line,» Robert said through the team interpreter after the Chicago's 10th consecutive loss. «Today my legs were a little tired. My right hamstring was a little tight. Then I decided just to play conservative today.… I think my mistake was that I didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell the manager because I knew if I said something to him, he probably wouldn't let me play.»

Robert came out to play the field in the top of the second but was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning. He remained in the dugout talking to his teammates after being benched.

«He might have just had a mental lapse,» White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. «We have to run hard down the line. This is not a common occurrence for Luis.»

Robert was immediately booed after the play.

«I understand the decision he made because he didn't know,» Robert said of Grifol pulling him. «People that didn't know what was going on, you could think it was a lack of effort on my part. People who know me, they know I'm always doing my best and running hard down the line.»

The sequence with Robert was yet another negative moment for a team that is spiraling after just 28 games.

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