The White Sox may have found a rising star in rookie pitcher Shane Smith, who threw five scoreless innings to lead Chicago to a 3-0 victory over the Twins on a rainy Thursday at Target Field.
Smith racked up a career-best seven strikeouts, showcasing a balanced pitch mix—three strikeouts with his four-seamer, two with his slider, and one each using his changeup and curve. He surrendered just four hits and one walk, earning his first big league win since being picked first in December’s Rule 5 Draft from Milwaukee.
A rain delay that lasted about an hour shortened the game to seven innings, adding weight to Smith’s strong outing. After five major league starts, he’s gaining confidence in his approach.
“I feel like I can attack however I want,” Smith said. “Whether it’s softer stuff or throwing hard in the zone, I think I can control it well enough to avoid a lot of damage. I know saying that probably jinxes me, but I really believe in what I’m doing.”
The White Sox backed Smith early. Lenyn Sosa, hitting .265 this season, jumped on a hanging slider from Chris Paddack in the second inning, launching it 416 feet for a solo homer and a 1-0 lead.
Paddack then retired eight of nine batters but faltered with two outs in the fourth, walking three of the next four hitters—including a bases-loaded walk to Palacios that pushed the lead to 2-0.
Smith, meanwhile, continued to be a bright spot in the White Sox’s tough season. Entering the day, he ranked third in opponent slugging (.231), fourth in opponent average (.167), fourth in OPS (.509), and 12th in ERA (2.82) among AL pitchers with at least 22 innings.
He delivered again on Thursday. After giving up a leadoff single, Smith picked off Edouard Julien at first following a successful challenge. He then struck out Byron Buxton with a slider and ended the inning with a curve in the dirt to fan Trevor Larnach, who had homered in back-to-back games.
Smith mixed his pitches well. In the second, he froze Ty France with a changeup at the bottom of the zone. After a double by Christian Vázquez in the third, Smith got Buxton looking at a fastball, then escaped with a pair of fly outs. He struck out Larnach with a changeup in the fourth and later blew a 95-mph fastball past France.
“I used the changeup a decent amount today,” Smith said. “Getting a strikeout with the curve in the first felt good since I haven’t used it much this year. The fastball wasn’t overpowering in velocity, but I hit my spots.”
At 25, Smith is still working on finishing strong. He’s run into late-inning trouble in two previous starts, giving up a three-run homer to Rafael Devers on April 19 and a two-RBI double to Trevor Story on April 13 after strong starts in both outings.
His ability to maintain effectiveness deep into starts will be a key development. On Thursday, he allowed a single to Brooks Lee in the fifth but induced weak contact from Keirsey Jr. and Vázquez before striking out Julien with back-to-back high fastballs to end the inning.
After 82 pitches, manager Will Venable turned things over to the bullpen. Smith finished with four hits, no runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
“He’s still growing,” Venable said. “We don’t want to overextend him too early. He’s a talented pitcher, and we want to manage his workload smartly.”
Miguel Vargas gave Smith some breathing room in the sixth with his first homer of the season—a 422-foot blast off a 96.8 mph fastball that made it 3-0.
“He throws really hard, and with two strikes I just wanted to put the ball in play,” Vargas said. “Glad it worked out.”
Vargas, who came in batting .157, had two hits the night before and credited his recent improvements to adjustments with his swing mechanics.
“The coaches have been helping me a lot,” he said. “We’ve been working on staying on plane with fastballs, and it’s starting to show.”
Right-hander Jordan Leasure followed Smith, navigating a jam with two base runners and getting a strikeout on a borderline fastball before ending the inning with a broken-bat liner.
“Big moment against the top of their order,” said Venable. “We needed that clean inning, and Leasure got it done.”
Rain continued to fall, slowing the game. Grounds crews worked between innings, and Brandon Eisert tossed a scoreless seventh—despite another double by Vázquez—to earn his first career save. The game was called after an hour-long delay post-seventh inning.
The win marked Chicago’s second on the road this season and ended a 14-game losing streak at Target Field. Next up, the White Sox open a three-game series in Sacramento against the Athletics on Friday at 9:05 p.m. CT.
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