CLEVELAND -- This is the Shane Smith the White Sox wanted.
While it¡¯s always tough to predict what to expect from a player you acquire in the Rule 5 Draft, the White Sox wouldn¡¯t have taken Smith the No. 1 pick had they not expected him to contribute on the big league level at some point.
But through his first two turns in the rotation, Smith has looked like he¡¯s here to stay.
After impressing in his MLB debut on April 1, Smith turned in a dazzling follow-up performance on Tuesday by carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning in a 1-0 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field. Smith allowed just two hits in six scoreless innings to record the first quality start of his career.
Smith¡¯s outing came on a day when offense was already going to be at a premium, thanks to the frigid temperature -- it was 35 degrees at first pitch -- at Progressive Field.
But Smith didn¡¯t allow those conditions to impact his ability to heat up on the mound.
He opened the game with a 1-2-3 first inning on 13 pitches before needing only 32 pitches to get through the second, third and fourth innings combined.
The highlight of those innings came at the start of the fourth inning when he made Steven Kwan (one of MLB¡¯s best contact hitters) look foolish with an 89 mph changeup.
¡°Those guys are really good in the zone,¡± Smith said. ¡°They don¡¯t chase a ton ... so to get the swing is encouraging.¡±
Smith threw his changeup 22 times and got four whiffs with it.
¡°It was nasty,¡± White Sox manager Will Venable said. ¡°He was mixing it up, and did a really good job.¡±
Smith didn¡¯t allow a baserunner until he issued a leadoff walk to Kyle Manzardo in the fifth inning, which he followed up by hitting Lane Thomas with a changeup.
But Smith responded with the presence of a veteran making his 200th start -- not a rookie making his second -- by getting out of the inning with two lineouts and a groundout.
The groundout was the standout play of the sequence, with Smith tracking down a dribbler down the first-base line and throwing his shoulder into Gabriel Arias to tag him out.
¡°I saw it and said, ¡®Just go get it,¡¯¡± Smith said. ¡°If I tried to let it go foul, he was going to beat me.¡±
He set down the first two batters in the sixth inning before allowing back-to-back singles to end his no-hit bid.
Those hits came at the same time his velocity dipped; his fastball was topping out at 92 mph in the sixth inning after starting at 96 mph in the first.
But Smith didn¡¯t let that faze him, as he responded by striking out Manzardo to end the inning.
¡°I knew my day was probably close to over at that point, so I just wanted to make a really good pitch at the time I needed it -- and I did,¡± Smith said.
Smith¡¯s strong start was just another display of dominance from a White Sox staff that¡¯s looked like one of baseball¡¯s best through the first two weeks of the season. Smith¡¯s six scoreless innings lowered the rotation¡¯s ERA to 3.17, and Chicago currently boasts two starters with sub-2.00 ERAs (Smith and Mart¨ªn P¨¦rez).
¡°These guys have done a good job,¡± Venable said. ¡°They prepare every day and go out and execute.¡±
Unfortunately for Smith, he wasn¡¯t able to get any help from his offense. While the Sox managed five walks as a team, they had just two hits and managed to get a runner past second base only once.
¡°We just haven¡¯t strung it together enough,¡± said catcher Matt Thaiss. ¡°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.¡±
Reliever Tyler Gilbert was able to match Smith¡¯s production in his first appearance of the year by tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings before giving way to Mike Clevinger, who got out of the eighth inning but surrendered a single and two walks to open the ninth. He then walked Nolan Jones to bring in the winning run.
¡°I felt good when I went out there for the eighth," Clevinger said. "But I sat down and went back out there and wasn¡¯t the same -- but I can¡¯t let that happen."