The Opening Day start around the corner
A 4-3 loss to the Angels is bad enough, but wildness from ace Shane Smith was something worse
As 98° and rising scorched the earth in Tempe on Friday, White Sox starter Shane Smith melted down right from first pitch. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Short of suffering an injury, Shane Smith’s final tuneup before taking the ball on Opening Day in Milwaukee started out almost unimaginably shambolic. In bottom of the first, Smith took 24 pitches, and just 11 strikes, to record one out.
He hit the first two batters of the game, sandwiched around a stolen base. A walk packed the sacks, although Smith rebounded for a strikeout of Yoán Moncada. But the White Sox ace was punished for his misdeeds by Josh Lowe and a two-run single, bouncing Smith from the frame.
(Garrett Schoenle came on in a rush and through a combination of walk-single dropped two more earned runs on Smith’s tab. ) The second inning, through the do-over magic of the Cactus League, saw Smith back on the mound once more. And that frame started with another gasp, as Ryan Galanie’s flub at first base allowed the leadoff man on via error, followed by another stolen base and a Yolmer Sánchez walk.
Thankfully from there, Smith settled down and struck out the next three Angels — including Moncada for the second time. But through two innings of all or nothing (free passes, loud outs, strikeouts), Smith stood at 25 strikes of 48 pitches. In the third, Smith got two quick outs including a fifth K, but then dropped another Angel with a hit batsman, and a third walk.