Shane Smith and White Sox Snap Slumps Against Royals

Shane Smith hadn’t earned a win since June 10, and the White Sox had dropped 20 of their last 23 meetings with the Kansas City Royals. On Monday night, both Smith and the South Siders were overdue.

Smith had arguably the best start of his career, throwing seven scoreless innings, the deepest he has gone into any game of his career, while allowing just one hit and a walk on 80 pitches, earning the win in the White Sox 7-0 route of the Royals. The 25-year-old Rule 5 pick attacked the strike zone early, throwing 22 of his first 24 pitches for strikes, and needed just 80 pitches to make it through seven innings. 

Smith turned in the best outing of his young career, firing seven scoreless innings, the deepest he has ever gone in a game, while allowing just one hit and one walk on only 80 pitches. The 25-year-old Rule 5 pick attacked the zone from the start, pounding the plate with 22 strikes in his first 24 offerings and retiring the first eight batters he faced before Kyle Isbel reached base on a Chase Meidroth error in the third inning. 

That miscue set the stage for Smith’s biggest test of the night. With runners on second and third after Mike Yastrzemski’s ground-rule double, MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. stepped to the plate. Smith got him to chase at his first offering, a 95 mph sinker on the inner half of the plate that Witt chopped to third baseman Curtis Mead, ending the threat and the inning.

That proved to be the Royals’ last baserunner until the sixth, when Smith issued a walk to Yastrzemski, the only other hitter to reach against the right-hander all night.

Smith was efficient on the mound, thanks to getting ahead in the count. He faced 23 hitters on the night and threw 21 first-pitch strikes, including to the final 12 batters he faced. 

The White Sox lone All-Star representative leaned heavily on his fastball, throwing it in 43 of his 80 pitches. However, he also mixed in 16 sinkers,  10 curveballs, seven changeups, and four sliders, using the curve for one of his three punchouts. 

Had he not thrown 101 pitches in his last outing in Atlanta, the White Sox may have given him a chance at a full shutout. But despite holding a comfortable seven-run lead, White Sox manager Will Venable decided to lift Smith after seven frames. 

“We were comfortable with where the pitch count was at,” Venable told reporters after the game. “Beyond that, probably had some more in the tank. That’s uncharted territory for him this year. He did his job.” 

Smith had shown steady improvement over his last four starts, but Monday’s outing was a true breakout. He pitched past the sixth inning for the first time in his career, earning his fourth win of the season and lowering his ERA to 3.87 in the process.

The White Sox bats hardly needed the pitching gem. Despite Colson Montgomery getting a day of rest, White Sox bats yet again erupted for seven runs, thanks to a pair of RBIs from Lenyn Sosa and back-to-back homers in the fourth inning from Korey Lee and Brooks Baldwin. 

The White Sox have now won three in a row, while outscoring opponents 22-3. It also marked the team's second consecutive shutout after beating the Twins 8-0 on Sunday. After Tyler Alexnader finished off the final two innings on Monday, the White Sox pitching staff extended its scoreless inning streak to 20. While the White Sox would like to continue that streak, there is one streak they are hoping to snap. 

If the White Sox can rattle off 16 victories in their last 31 games, they can avoid 100 losses for the third consecutive season.