The White Sox won a close game 3-0 tonight, as Carlos Rodon out-pitched Brad Keller and the Sox utilized some timely offense. The game was scoreless through four innings until Zack Collins broke up the no-no and kicked off the scoring with a shot to dead center field. Then, in the 6th inning, Tim Anderson scored on a single from Eaton after doubling to RF. Later in the 6th, Abreu hit a double to score Eaton to bring the score to 3-0, completing the scoring for the evening. While Keller carried a no-hitter into the 5th, the Sox were hitting him well with 10 hard hit balls.
Carlos Rodon continued to dominate early this season, as he pitched 6 innings while striking out 8 and not giving up any walks or runs. As for the bullpen, Heuer, Bummer, and Hendriks combined for 3 scoreless innings to bring the Sox to 17-13 on the season.
W: Carlos Rodon (5-0) | L: Brad Keller (2-4) | S: Liam Hendriks (6)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Carlos Rodon: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 14 Swinging Strikes
Rodon has been great this season and is showing no signs of slowing up. He hit 98 multiple times on his fastball and got 10 of his 14 swings and misses on it. He is also showing his improved command this season with zero walks today. If Rodon can continue to act as a front-of-the-line starter, the White Sox are going to be in great shape this season.
Zack Collins: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
As mentioned earlier, Collins sparked the offense with a shot to dead center. He was able to get on base a second time by drawing a walk. Collins is now hitting .220 on the season with a .762 OPS, which is more than serviceable for a high-quality backup catcher.
Jose Abreu: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
Jose got on the board and padded the lead with a RBI double in the 5th. He also recorded two hard hit balls and may be showing signs of heating up.
Tim Anderson: 1-for-4, 2B, R, IBB
Tim continues to hit and get on base at the top of the order. He scored a run after doubling on a single from Eaton. Later, he drew an intentional walk to load the bases for Eaton for a lefty-lefty match up.
Matchup of the Game
Up 3-0 in the 9th, Hendriks gave up a double and a single, while Soler reached in between them on a catcher’s interference by Collins. Nicky Lopez came up with the bases loaded and 2 outs to face Hendriks. Liam got the first strike and made Lopez look silly on a 0-1 slider. Lopez then flew out to Tim Anderson in short center field to end the game and secure the shutout.
Player of the Game
Player of the game honors have to go to Carlos Rodon, who lowered his season ERA to 0.58 to start the 2021 season while picking up his fifth win. At this rate, Carlos Rodon is going to earn himself a qualifying offer this offseason. It’s been a pretty great start for someone who signed a $3M deal this offseason.
Next Game
The White Sox take on the Royals again for Game 2 of the 3 game set at 6:10pm in Kansas City. Lance Lynn will take the mound against Daniel Lynch. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Chicago.
