CHICAGO — There was no Colson Montgomery in the White Sox lineup for Monday night’s series opener against the Royals at Rate Field.
Kyle Teel also was on the bench, as was Mike Tauchman. Chicago’s offense still produced without three of its most potent hitters during a 7-0 victory, but the bats didn’t really need to do much with Shane Smith on the mound.
The All-Star threw seven scoreless innings in a very economical 80-pitch fashion, walking one and giving up one hit while striking out three. It was the first time Smith recorded an out into the seventh in his big league career, as the White Sox extended their scoreless-innings streak to 20 as a staff.
There have been many impressive White Sox starts for the 25-year-old, who featured a 2.37 ERA as of June 10. Smith’s performance against the Royals, leaning heavy on the four-seam fastball and sinker, probably was his best.
“You can quantify starts differently than others,” said Smith, who won for the first time since June 10. “I’m really happy with this one.”
“His first-pitch strike percentage was the highest that he’s had all year,” catcher Korey Lee said of Smith. “Just being on the attack all game, from pitch one, using both fastballs, and then obviously, just executing the pitches whenever we needed it. It was super impressive.”
Smith faced 23 hitters and threw 21 first-pitch strikes, including against the last 12 batters faced. After retiring the first eight Royals, Kyle Isbel reached on Chase Meidroth’s fielding error and Mike Yastrzemski followed with a ground-rule double to left-center.
Bobby Witt Jr. grounded out to third, ending the inning, and Yastrzemski’s sixth-inning walk was the only other baserunner allowed by Smith. After throwing a career-high 101 pitches at Atlanta on Tuesday, the White Sox (48-83) didn’t give Smith the full shutout chance.
But the decision primarily was influenced by Smith’s work into the seventh for the first time, according to manager Will Venable.
“We were comfortable with where the pitch count was at,” Venable said. “Beyond that, probably had some more in the tank. That’s uncharted territory for him this year. He did his job.”
There was a short discussion to stay in the game from Smith to Venable, ending with Venable telling his right-hander he did everything necessary this evening.
“So, I’m not going to fight that,” Smith said. “They’ve been really good with my innings and my pitch counts since the start of the year. Making sure you’re doing everything behind the scenes in the weight room and training room, and all that stuff. Making sure you’re ready every five, six days, whatever it is.”
“He was throwing strikes. He was coming after guys. Attacking hitters all night,” Yastrzemski said. “Put us on our heels, and we just didn’t come out with a whole lot of energy today. Hopefully, we recognize that and bounce back tomorrow.”
White Sox hitters supported Smith with three runs in the first and three runs in the fourth off Royals starter Noah Cameron (7-6), who held the White Sox to one run over 5 1/3 innings on Aug. 15 in Kansas City. The runs in the fourth came off Lee’s two-run home run and Brooks Baldwin’s solo blast in back-to-back fashion. It was Lee’s first home run of the season and first hit since returning from a 2 1/2-month stint at Triple-A Charlotte.
Baldwin added a tremendous sliding catch down the left-field foul line against Adam Frazier leading off the fifth, while Miguel Vargas chipped in two hustle doubles as one of four White Sox players with multihit efforts. Simply put, it was the best overall effort of the year for the South Siders.
“Yeah, every part of the game. Defensively was outstanding, baserunning, guys were flying around the bases,” Venable said. “Obviously, Shane and [Tyler] Gilbert with the job they did on the mound and then the collective effort offensively. Really nice team win.”
Monday’s decisive effort marked the third straight victory for the White Sox and third straight within the American League Central. They improved to 3-1 in this stretch of 17 games in 17 days and raised their second-half record to 16-18.
With 31 games remaining, the White Sox need to finish 15-16 to avoid a third straight 100-loss season. This opening effort against the Royals, along with outscoring the opponents, 22-3, over the last three wins, including back-to-back shutouts, certainly makes that goal realistic.
“A lot of the young guys, obviously, they’re getting their feet wet up here, starting to learn themselves, starting to learn how to play a big league baseball game,” Lee said. “Obviously, we’re all still learning that and there’s a lot of room to grow.”
