When Davis Martin and José Soriano met for the first of two consecutive head-to-head battles on April 28, Martin sported an enviable 2.01 ERA, and yet it was 1¾ runs worse than his counterpart's.
After the second of their two contests this season, Martin now has the superior mark. He cruised through seven scoreless innings while the White Sox offense harassed Soriano early and often, and as a result, Martin has darted ahead of Soriano in the AL ERA race:
- Cam Schlittler, 1.52
- Martin, 1.64
- Nick Martinez, 1.71
- Soriano, 1.74
Martin scattered five hits while setting a career high with 10 strikeouts, and he iterated on this recent form. There was once again the livelier-than-normal fastball, which averaged 94.6 mph and touched 97, and played well at the top of the zone. But the changeup returned to prominence as his second-most utilized pitch, and the combination of a riding fastball and changeup with arm-side action appeared to make his slider extra baffling. He only threw it 13 times, but it generated 11 swings, and nine of them were whiffs.
Not every Angel was confused. Nolan Schanuel seemed to see Martin well, striking out after four foul balls in his first plate appearance, then lining two doubles to right in his other plate appearances. Travis d'Arnaud also had a multi-hit game with a couple of well-struck singles, but with Schanuel batting third and d'Arnaud eighth, they weren't able to participate in sequences together, because Jo Adell had the only other hit on Martin's tab.
Soriano also picked up where he left off against the White Sox, in the sense that he never looked comfortable. He opened his evening by walking Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami, and he nearly escaped by striking out Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas. But Chase Meidroth validated the decision to bat him fifth by poking a high slider to center field for the game's first run, and then Andrew Benintendi found a hole right of second to put the Sox ahead 2-0.
It remained that score for the next two innings, but just like the Drew Romo-led surge from last week, the White Sox were ultimately able to deliver a knockout blow. This time, it took the form of back-to-back homers by Murakami and Vargas. The former belted a soaring two-run shot to center to cash in Antonacci, while the latter muscled an opposite-field drive just over the home run line on the right-center wall.
Soriano finished the fourth, but his night effectively ended there. He finished allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks over four innings, which looked even worse when Tim Farris came in and delivered four innings of one-run relief. The Sox had similar success in collecting hits against him, but without the aid of a walk, he didn't allow a run until Colson Montgomery's single in the eighth.
Bullet points:
*Sean Newcomb closed out the game with two perfect innings. The White Sox outhit the Angels 16-5, and outwalked them 3-0.
*Murakami had one of three three-hit games on the White Sox's side, including his first double of the season after his first 14 extra-base hits left the yard. He also started a slick 3-6 double play to erase a d'Arnaud single in the third.
*Antonacci reached base three times from the leadoff spot and scored two runs, Benintendi went 4-for-5 from the DH spot, and Jarred Kelenic was 3-for-5 in right field.
*Kelenic had an active night in other regards. He bobbled a ball in right field that allowed Schanuel to stretch a single into an easy double, rather than a contested one, and then he was thrown out at second by Mike Trout when he tried to return the favor. Later, Tristan Peters caught a fly ball over him in right field even though Kelenic was parked under it, revealing the lack of familiarity between new teammates, as well as the height difference.
*Randal Grichuk made his White Sox debut pinch-hitting for Peters in the seventh and lined out to Yoán Moncada on the first pitch. Derek Hill then replaced him in center.
*Moncada finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout thanks to a great sliding stop and throw by Meidroth to take away a single.
