Rookie Grayson Rodriguez’s six one-hit innings help Orioles handle White Sox
BALTIMORE (AP) — Grayson Rodriguez allowed one hit over six innings, and the AL-best Baltimore Orioles clinched their second consecutive successful season with a 9-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday evening.
Anthony Santander hit his twenty fifth homer for Baltimore (82-49), which has gained eight of its final 10 and elevated its AL East lead over idle Tampa Bay to 2 1/2 video games. The Orioles went 83-79 final yr, their first successful season since 2016.
“So happy with how we swung the bat tonight,” Baltimore supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned. “Really happy with how we pitched. We played really good defense. We have a long way to go, but to have 82 wins up to this point is a real credit to a lot of people in that clubhouse.”
The White Sox (52-80) have misplaced 11 of 16 and had been shut out for the tenth time this season. Baltimore’s shutout was its ninth.
Rodriguez (4-3) retired the primary 11 batters earlier than Luis Robert Jr. doubled to left. Robert was stranded when Eloy Jiménez grounded out two pitches later, and Chicago wouldn’t get a runner into scoring place the remainder of the evening.
Korey Lee was the one different White Sox baserunner towards Rodriguez, drawing a one-out stroll within the sixth.
Rodriguez was lifted after throwing 96 pitches. The 23-year-old rookie right-hander struck out six.
“He’s pitching with a lot of confidence right now,” Hyde mentioned. “He solely had 40-something pitches via 4 innings or so. He was actually pounding the strike zone early.”
Rodriguez is 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in his final six begins. He has lowered his ERA from 7.35 to five.03 since returning to the majors July 17 and sees the necessity for higher enchancment.
“I think fastball command needs to get better,” Rodriguez mentioned. “I think we still have a long way to go with that. Kind of eliminating some of those wasted pitches above the zone, really just kind of getting back down at the knees, wherever the catcher is setting up. That’s something we’re still going to keep working on.”
Ryan O’Hearn’s two-run single within the third inning opened the scoring. Ryan McKenna walked, stole second, moved as much as third on a flyball and scored on Chicago starter Michael Kopech’s wild pitch within the fourth. Ryan Mountcastle added an RBI single later within the inning to make it 4-0.
Kopech (5-12) allowed 4 runs in 4 innings, putting out 5. The right-hander is 2-5 with a 7.34 ERA in 9 begins for the reason that All-Star break and has walked at the very least 4 batters in six consecutive begins.
“Ultimately, I’m not terribly upset with how I pitched,” Kopech mentioned. “I’m pretty upset with the results. We’re looking to win games and it’s unfortunate when I can’t get to the fifth and I can’t take a little bit of a load off the bullpen and can’t put us in a better position to win.”
McKenna added a two-run single off Edgar Navarro within the eighth. Santander capped the inning with a three-run shot to proper. Santander, who had 33 homers final yr, turned the primary Orioles switch-hitter to hit 25 in consecutive seasons since Hall of Famer Eddie Murray in 1987-88.
Baltimore prolonged its streak of collection with out being swept to 82. It is the fifth-longest streak in MLB historical past and the longest for the reason that St. Louis Cardinals’ file 124 in a row from 1942-44.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Hyde mentioned OF Aaron Hicks (again) has run the final couple days and is scheduled to renew baseball actions “pretty soon.” … OF Austin Hays had a routine day without work.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Rookie RHP Jesse Scholtens (1-6, 4.15 ERA) faces Baltimore for the primary time because the collection continues Tuesday.
Orioles: RHP Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.31) is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in three begins at Camden Yards in August.
