The White Sox opened the mathematical second half of the season the way they opened the first: getting shut out, admittedly by an emergent ace.
Tarik Skubal led the way with six scoreless innings on Opening Day, and tonight it was Gavin Stone, who went the distance. He threw a four-hitter while coming within four pitches of a Maddux, instead settling for a plain ol' shutout with a career-high pitch count of 103 to seal a sweep for the Dodgers.
In both cases, huge crowds went home with nothing much to cheer for. Tonight's game eclipsed the attendance from Opening Day, as it was an official sell-out of 36,225 thanks to the combination of the Dodgers and Mexican Heritage Night.
Stone improved to 9-2 on the season while lowering his ERA to 2.73, and he outdueled another potential All-Star in Erick Fedde, who unwittingly made an unaffordable amount of mistakes when he gave up a no-doubt blast to Shohei Ohtani, the first batter of the game.
Fedde eventually fell behind 4-0 in the third when they loaded the bases on a single, infield single, and a four-pitch walk to Ohtani, then unloaded them with a sac fly and a two-run double by Freddie Freeman. Fedde was able to regain control of the circumstances to complete six innings and limit the bullpen to three impressive innings from Michael Soroka a day before a Johnny Wholestaff game on Thursday, so he'll have to settle for a moral victory after dropping to 5-3.
The White Sox only really threatened Stone in the second, when Gavin Sheets bisected the right-center gap with a blistered double and briefly entertained the idea of stretching in into a triple. The next three batters reinforced his impulse, as Andrew Vaughn rolled over to the left side, Paul DeJong grounded out, and Korey Lee flied out one batter too late.
Those were the only three at-bats the White Sox had with a runner in scoring position.
The most noteworthy aspect about this game from the White Sox's perspective is who didn't finish it. Pedro Grifol was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Derrick Thomas after Nicky Lopez struck out looking to end the fifth, and Sheets ended up being replaced by Corey Julks due to a jammed left heel. Sheets had a couple of high-impact sprints that could've been the culprit, whether it the abrupt pull up at second on the double, or crashing into the side wall and netting after a long, unsuccessful pursuit of a fly ball down the right field line.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox have been shut out 12 times this year, but this was the first time one pitcher did all the work.
*Soroka struck out seven over his three innings of relief. His slider was particularly effective, getting four whiffs and eight called strikes on the 25 he threw.
*Ohtani went 3-for-9 with two homers and four walks over the three-game series, so fans who showed up to watch him should've been satisfied.
