The Chicago White Sox have been getting more than they bargained for from their young starting pitchers.
They’ll see if Sean Burke can continue the trend when he takes the mound against the host Cleveland Guardians in the middle contest of their three-game series on Wednesday.
Fellow rookie right-hander Shane Smith threw six shutout innings for the White Sox in the series opener on Tuesday. He left with the game still scoreless and the Guardians won 1-0 on a walk-off walk in the ninth inning.
Smith’s performance lowered the ERA for Chicago’s starting pitching staff to 3.17, one of the best in the majors.
“These guys have done a good job,” Chicago manager Will Venable said. “They prepare every day and go out and execute.”
Chicago’s offense is the main reason it has lost six in a row. The White Sox haven’t scored more than four runs in any of those losses.
“We just haven’t strung it together enough,” White Sox catcher Matt Thaiss said. “We’ve got a lot of guys putting up good at-bats, but I just feel like they’re kind of spread out right now.”
Burke (1-1, 5.23 ERA) threw six shutout innings in the season opener against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on March 27 and the White Sox won 8-1.
He wasn’t nearly as effective in his second start, allowing six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins last Wednesday. After waiting through a 3 1/2-hour rain delay, Burke struck out one and didn’t walk a batter for the second consecutive start.
Burke said he didn’t have good command of his slider and the Twins sent two of those pitches over the fence for home runs.
“Going back to halfway through last year, my biggest thing was I want to be able to beat guys in (the) zone,” Burke said. “I don’t want to beat myself. I don’t want to put guys on base, so I think just kind of getting back to being a little bit finer with some of those pitches and not just throwing them over the heart of the plate.”
Burke made his MLB debut out of the bullpen against the Guardians on Sept. 10, allowing one unearned run and three hits over three innings of the 5-0 loss.
The bases-loaded walk to Nolan Jones in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday resulted in the MLB’s first walk-off walk in a 1-0 game since May 1, 2009. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres in that game on a walk by Russell Martin.
The series opener between Chicago and Cleveland was held in chilly 35-degree weather and the forecast appears to be more of the same, though with a chance of rain.
“It was definitely cold out there,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “They were able to go to the batting cage to stay loose, run around in the weight room, wear jackets. … We did everything we could. Our guys stayed ready.”
The Guardians plan to send left-hander Logan Allen to the mound on Wednesday.
Allen (0-1, 6.75) failed to receive any run support in his season debut on April 1. He allowed four runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings of the 7-0 loss at the Padres.
Allen has made six starts against the White Sox in his three-year career and is 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA.
