Chicago White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth said it’s “pretty easy” playing defense behind starter Shane Smith.
“He throws a lot of strikes,” Meidroth said. “Every time he’s on the mound, we should win. He’s a No. 1 in this league. He’s really good.”
The rookie had another sharp outing Thursday, scattering four hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 11,850 at Rate Field.
Smith struck out four and walked one as the Sox took two of three in the series. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games.
“We’re just coming out ready to play from the get-go,” Smith said. “Our offense is putting up a lot of runs in the first inning as of late. We’ve been down six or seven of those games and we’ve come back each time. Testament to the guys. Bullpen has been great, starters doing a pretty good job. Just trying to keep it going.”
With the win, the Sox improved to 25-25 since the All-Star break.
“It’s great,” manager Will Venable said of the second-half-success. “Obviously that’s a big step forward for us, especially where the record was at in the first half. Just a testament to these guys and the work they’ve done and continuing to go out there and fight every day.
“At the same time, we’ve been just focused on the things we believe are going to help us win games. These guys, the reason why I think they’re able to have good results is that they’re focused on those things.”
Fellow rookies Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel made impacts offensively. Montgomery had a two-run single in the first inning while Teel came off the bench in the sixth and delivered a two-run hit of his own.
Smith didn’t have to deal with much traffic until the sixth. He allowed a leadoff single to Chandler Simpson and walked Brandon Lowe. Junior Caminero then hit a grounder to the second baseman Meidroth to begin a double play.
“It’s huge,” Smith said of pitching into the sixth. “The bullpen’s been working their tail off, especially the last 10, 11 games. All the starters want to go six-plus every single time. For me to get into the sixth, get the double play and for (Tyler) Gilbert to finish it off was incredible.”
He added on the double play: “I just want to get him out. Two-for-one is always the preferred tradeoff there. I was hoping to strike him out, but he put a ball in play and I get two outs.”
That was Smith’s final batter. Gilbert entered and struck out pinch hitter Christopher Morel to end the inning.
It’s the third time in his last six starts that Smith did not allow a run. The stretch includes surrendering two hits in five scoreless innings Aug. 13 against the Detroit Tigers and one hit over seven scoreless Aug. 25 against the Kansas City Royals.
Smith (6-7) has won three of his last four starts.
“It’s just great, just the whole progression from him,” Venable said. “To start out so well and in the middle of the year (have to) find himself again and to finish strong here, he’s somebody who finds ways to be effective even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. So I think that’s just a young guy learning how to pitch and how to get outs.”
He received offensive support early.
Meidroth led off the bottom of the first with a single and moved to third on a Curtis Mead double. Both scored on Montgomery’s one-out single.
The Sox added three runs in the sixth. Michael A. Taylor had an RBI single and later scored on Teel’s two-run single to make it 5-0.
That was more than enough for Smith and four relievers as the Sox (57-90) won their third consecutive series.
“We’re just focused on the things that they’ve committed to the whole year,” Venable said. “As we get guys that are healthy and playing well and producing offensively, our pitching staff has done a great job, it’s nice to get a little momentum and have some good results here.”
Injury update
The Sox said pitcher Grant Taylor “could be down for a few days” but is day to day after leaving Wednesday’s game with a right groin strain.
“I threw that last pitch and felt something in my groin,” Taylor said. “Didn’t want to push it and really see how far I could test it, hurt it more. So called (the training staff) out and came out of the game.”
The Sox will monitor how Taylor is progressing.
“(We’ll) see where it takes us,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be all based off how it feels. We’ll see in the next few days.”
