Aaron Civale comes off as a soft-spoken guy, but apparently is not going to have Andrew Vaughn out here having him look like a chump.
After going into the All-Star break with zero quality starts to his name, Civale hasn't allowed an earned run in three starts since. With the Sox offense suddenly banged up and largely silenced by Kyle Hendricks' low-speed attack, nothing else would have sufficed.
Once more touting feel of a big overhand curveball that gives him access to the bottom of the strike zone, Civale struck out a season-high eight in 6 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball, dropping his ERA under 4.00 for the first time all year. Even with Brennan Miller's strike zone answering the question of what if an umpire showed up for work in a fugue state, Civale nevertheless controlled the quality of contact, with Yoán Moncada's medium-depth fly out to left in the second registering as the hardest-hit ball (99.1 mph) he allowed.
After retiring the first nine Angels in order to star the night, a Zach Neto leadoff single--a slow roller up the third base line that Brooks Baldwin lost on the transfer--followed by a walk to Nolan Schanuel put Civale in his only real jam in the fourth, only to see him slice through the heart of the lineup without issue. He dotted the up-and-away quadrant to strike out Taylor Ward on four pitches, got a weak lineout from Jo Adell, before fooling Moncada on a big curve to end the threat. However spicy it felt for Will Venable to bring Civale back out for the seventh at 91 pitches, that concern was immediately erased by him striking out Adell with only three more throws added to his night, ending it with another big curveball.
From there, Civale handed it off to a Sox bullpen that definitely wasn't going to feature Steven Wilson after his two-inning save on Friday, wound up not deploying Grant Taylor either, and still didn't allow another baserunner while securing the final eight outs. Brandon Eisert racked up five outs on just 18 pitches, as he never wound up encountering the point at which Angels hitters would stop rolling over his changeup.
Jordan Leasure didn't necessarily look sharp in tying Taylor for the team-lead in saves (3), but he did have good velocity. So when his encounters with both Schanuel and Ward amounted to challenge fastballs in the zone, they hummed in at 96-97 mph and ended in routine fly outs.
For an offense that's been obliterating fastballs while winning 10 out of their last 14 games, they sure were thrown off by Hendricks sitting 86 mph. There were a lot of uncomfortable swings, and three separate rally-defusing rolled over double play balls. Even when someone looked to have timed up a changeup, their fly outs died at medium depth like they do when a pitch that has just enough tailing action to stay off the barrel. The general demeanor of Sox hitters cobbling together six singles in nine innings could be represented by a single image.
Kyle Teel was not just the team's emotional avatar, but also the offensive hero. Luis Robert Jr. led off the second by lining a hanging changeup to center, and correctly concluded that nothing Hendricks threw would be fast enough for him to get caught stealing second on. After he moved to third on a deep Colson Montgomery fly out, Teel stayed with a sinker on the outer-edge for a sharp, run-scoring single to left-center.
When is a good piece of hitting a great piece of hitting? When it scores the decisive run to seal up the team's fourth series win in five opportunities since the All-Star break.
Bullet points:
*Miguel Vargas was a last-minute scratch from the lineup with a left oblique strain, setting up Corey Julks for his 2025 debut. The team says Vargas is still being evaluated, which leaves the door open for this to lead to a stint on the injured list.
Since Chase Meidroth has missed the last two days games after taking a pitch to the thumb, hopefully it's not excessive editorializing to say that the Sox offense doesn't need this.
*Baldwin had the only multi-hit night at the plate, and was the fielder on the infield single that accounted for the only Angels' knock. He makes things happen.
*The thinning of the White Sox infield depth was acutely felt in the seventh, as Venable had to stick with Josh Rojas against lefty Brock Burke with two and two out because he lacked a spare infielder to cover second if he tapped Edgar Quero or Michael A. Taylor to pinch-hit.
*This was the sixth shutout recorded by Sox pitching this season, and their first since another 1-0 victory over the Giants on June 28. They recorded this one on just 121 pitches.
*The White Sox, as you might remember, did not reach 42 wins last season.
