CHICAGO – A day that started with excitement around Tim Elko making his MLB debut and right-hander Shane Smith continuing his impressive rookie season ended in disappointment as the White Sox lost 3-1 to the Marlins.

After leading by a run through six innings, the White Sox bullpen gave up three total runs in the seventh and eighth innings Saturday night at Rate Field. With this loss, the White Sox fell to 11-29 ahead of Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. CT rubber match.

The loss put to waste yet another strong outing from Smith, though it didn’t look that way initially. Smith allowed a leadoff single to Xavier Edwards, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. But he got out of the inning with a ground out, followed by two strikeouts.

Smith’s fastball command was key early on. His first strikeout against Eric Wagaman came with two fastballs that landed above the strike zone, yet close enough to induce whiffs. He struck out Agustín Sanchez to end the inning with near-identical location, though it had extra zip at 96.9 mph.

The ability to challenge hitters with high fastballs seemed to help Smith set up his offspeed pitches as his outing moved along. After getting to a two-strike count with a pair of fastballs near the top of the zone, Ronny Simon fouled off a slider before swinging and missing at a low changeup. Smith said postgame it was his most comfortable usage of a variety of pitches this season.

By that point, Marlins hitters appeared to be off balance and guessing against Smith, whose fourth and fifth strikeouts were powered by fastballs on the outer edge. Smith began the fifth inning with a sequence that had been working all night: high fastballs and a drop-off changeup to strike out Connor Norby. He ended the fifth having retired eight straight batters.

“If I personally don’t have my fastball, I probably don’t have a lot that day,” Smith said. “So making sure I’m executing with that and putting it in the right spot. Velo comes and goes, but if I can execute, good things can happen.”

The White Sox are certainly thrilled with how Smith’s rookie season has begun, but an aspect of his development to monitor is how he finishes starts. Smith entered Saturday’s outing ranked first among MLB pitchers who’ve made at least seven starts with a first-four inning ERA of 0.64, 18 total bases allowed and a .191 opponents’ slugging percentage. Pirates ace Paul Skenes was second in the latter category at .223.

But Smith tends to regress after the fourth inning. In the fifth inning or later, Smith had a 7.71 ERA, a 2.04 WHIP and a .463 opponents’ slugging percentage. At first, it looked as if that trend may continue.

Smith began the sixth inning by allowing a leadoff double to Javier Sanoja, who’s ground ball deflected off Josh Rojas’ glove at third and was ruled a hit. A wild pitch allowed Sanoja to advance to third with zero outs and the top of the Marlins’ order due up.

Smith jammed Xavier Edwards with a fastball, which caused a popout, and then he struck out Sanchez on three straight changeups for the second out. He escaped the jam with a flyout by Wagaman, though he may have been fortunate that Wagaman didn’t hit his middle-middle slider harder.

Altogether, Smith finished with arguably his best outing of the season.

“I think getting through six is probably my favorite part,” Smith said. “Just showing longevity and keeping the pitch count roughly in that area where I can go out for the sixth and complete it. Stayed aggressive, mixed speeds, mixed locations, it was nice.”

He finished with six innings, four hits, zero runs, zero walks and seven strikeouts, tying his career-high. That represents Smith’s third start of six innings – he hasn’t gone further – and third scoreless outing. It’s also his only start with zero walks, and the four hits allowed are tied for his third-fewest in a start.

“It’s big. You want to, as a starting pitcher your job is to go as long as you can,” Smith said. “I feel like I can do that more often than not. Whether that’s up to me is out of my hands, and I’m okay with that. But I want to make the job easier for the guys around me, and I think going six does that.”

Smith exited the game in line for the win, thanks to a first-inning solo home run by Andrew Vaughn, his second in as many days. The White Sox clung to a 1-0 lead until the seventh inning, when right-handed reliever Steven Wilson gave up a game-tying solo home run to Kyle Stowers. Wilson had allowed just one earned run in 10 innings entering Saturday’s game, but this one came at an unfortunate time.

In the eighth inning, the Marlins seized control permanently. Facing the Marlin threat, White Sox pitcher Jordan Leasure yielded a leadoff hit followed by striking out two hitters before yielding to relief pitcher Brandon Eisert, who opened his stint with a walk. Starting instead of an injured Luis Robert Jr., due to right knee discomfort, White Sox centerfielder Michael A. Taylor tried unsuccessfully to make a diving grab. This miscue allowed Wagaman to score two runs with a triple, pushing the Marlins ahead 3-1.

Wilson, Leasure and Eisert were each credited with one earned run. Without many save opportunities this season for relievers to prove themselves in high-leverage roles, coupled with it being a largely inexperienced group, the bullpen remains a work in progress.

We discussed this prior to the game and are positioning our players effectively, aiming to place them in the most advantageous scenarios,” Venable stated. “While considering the match-ups, we’re also factoring in how each player is currently performing. Thus, we’re assembling everything piece by piece every single day.

The White Sox offense had a sluggish evening, managing only four hits throughout the game. The Marlins’ starting pitcher, Edward Cabrera, threw for five innings and gave up a seasonal low of three hits along with one earned run.

One of the White Sox best chances to take the lead came in the seventh inning as Tim Elko approached the third at-bat of his MLB debut after flying out and grounding out in his first two. Elko stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and a runner on second in a 1-1 tie.

The batter sent the pitch right through the infield, momentarily appearing as though he might gain an advantage with a run batted in. However, Marlins’ second baseman Javier Sanojo executed a remarkable move to put him out. As he darted towards the edge of second base, Sanojo dove for a catch, managed to slide over onto his back hand, sprang up instantly, and fired the ball toward first base even as he tumbled.

I was hoping that would make it through so we could score a run there,” Elko stated. “The guy made a good play.

Venable said Elko and Vaughn will both be in the lineup for most games. Elko called it a surreal moment to have family and friends attend his MLB debut, as well as a sign that hard work has come to fruition. Though finished his debut 0-for-3, Elko and Venable agreed he put together solid at-bats.

“I felt quite positive about them,” Elko stated. “I didn’t receive many quality pitches to swing at. The opposing team was throwing some impressive pitches. It seems like I took a few balls and went after some marginal ones. Such is baseball. Sometimes they come out with effective throws.”

“He looked comfortable, took some tough pitches,” Venable said. “I thought he constructed good at-bats. Nice play on him up the middle there. So a good day for him to get his feet wet and we’ll see what it looks like tomorrow.”

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  • ROBERT NOT IN LINEUP:

    Will Venable, the White Sox manager, stated prior to Saturday’s contest with the Marlins that Luis Robert Jr. would not be playing in the lineup because of discomfort in his right knee. However, he remains listed as day-to-day.


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White Sox Waste Shane Smith’s Scoreless Outing In 3-1 Loss To Marlins

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