Guardians 4, White Sox 2: Offense sputters on planned Shane Smith shortened outing

In his last appearance before partaking in All-Star Game festivities, Shane Smith needed a get-right start against Cleveland. The past seven outings have been rough for Smith, as he’s lasted just 29⅔ innings while shouldering a 7.28 ERA, but it was his second career start against Cleveland on April 8 that began Smith’s All-Star campaign, when he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six. 

Smith looked sharp in the first inning as he started the game by striking out Steven Kwan on four pitches and then ended the frame by getting Jose Ramirez to chase a fastball well out of the zone. It only took 14 pitches for Smith to exit the first inning unscathed. 

The second inning was looking good with back-to-back strikeouts of Kyle Manzardo and Carlos Santana, but Smith’s breaking stuff betrayed him. Facing Daniel Schneemann, Smith hung a curveball that got rocked 408 feet to right field for a solo home run. The next batter was Angel Martinez, and he pulled a slider on the outside corner that barely cleared the right field fence for a home run. The back-to-back solo shots gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead. 

"Maybe one too many curve balls they were sitting on for the homer, but I’ll live with that," Smith said. "I think if I do a lot of what I did today that will help me a lot. Again, fastballs elevated late in counts, throwing spin for strikes, throwing changeups again for strikes against lefty hitters, and then the one righty I threw two good sliders and got an out. If I can build on that right there, that puts me in the right direction."

But Smith bounced back in the third inning, going three up, three down, finishing the frame by striking out Nolan Jones. On 46 pitches, Smith was living in the zone with 31 strikes thrown and already had five strikeouts. Then, in a surprising move, White Sox manager Will Venable decided Smith’s day was done after the third inning and went to the bullpen. In his postgame presser, Venable said that Friday was a scheduled shortened start for Smith to conserve innings.

"Being that he’s had just normal rest the last few, and as we try to find ways to navigate the season with him, just thought a shorter outing was appropriate today," Venable said. "We’ll reevaluate every turn in the rotation."

It was a no-decision effort for Smith because he got some offensive help from Luis Robert Jr. After Mike Tauchman walked in the second inning, Robert pulled a Logan Allen fastball to deep left field for a two-run homer to tie the game. That blast was Robert’s ninth home run of the season. 

Cleveland regained the lead when Santana hit the Guardians' third homer of the afternoon with a two-run shot off Sox reliever Tyler Alexander.

That would be the game-winning hit, as the White Sox offense was mostly silent against the Guardians pitchers. Entering the ninth inning, Robert’s home run was the team’s only hit until Chase Meidroth singled off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. 

Game Notes

• Tim Elko left the game with right knee soreness. Colson Montgomery entered the game playing third base while Miguel Vargas moved across the diamond to play first base. Venable said Elko is still being evaluated.
• Elko in his last four major league games: 0-for-11; 10 strikeouts
• Speaking of Vargas, he’s in the middle of a 5-for-55 hitting slump in his last 15 games.

Record: 31-63 | Box Score | StatCast