A nice, clean 14-hitter: White Sox beat Indians

White Sox right-hander Dylan Covey allowed 2.6 home runs per every nine innings in 2017. That was the highest rate among any pitcher who threw at least 70 innings -- although to be fair, Covey threw 70 innings right on the dot during his 0-7 season.

However, things have changed this year. Covey has made six starts with the Sox in 2018, totaling 35.1 innings, and he has yet to allow a home run.

Hmmm. Go figure.

Covey improved to 3-1 on Wednesday as the Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2.

The former Rule 5 draft pick gave up two runs on 10 hits over seven-plus innings, but they were all singles, and Covey survived because he did not walk a batter. Give the guy this: He's throwing strikes, and he's avoiding the big mistakes that cost him a lot of runs last season.

Sox relievers Jace Fry and Joakim Soria combined to give up four more hits over two innings, so Cleveland ended up outhitting the Sox, 14-4, but the South Siders had the edge in the column that counts.

The Sox only had four hits off Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer, who struck out 12 in 7.2 innings, but those four hits counted.

Tim Anderson walked to lead off the fifth inning, stole second and scored on triple by Charlie Tilson. Trayce Thompson's perfectly executed suicide squeeze brought Tilson home for a 2-0 Sox lead.

The Sox added a run in the sixth. After Jose Abreu doubled, Kevan Smith's two-out single made it 3-0, with Abreu sliding safely into home under a tag after a good throw to the plate by Cleveland right fielder Melky Cabrera.

The Indians got two in the eighth and threatened for more, placing runners on second and third with one out. However, Fry put out the fire with consecutive strikeouts of Cabrera and Jason Kipnis to preserve a 3-2 lead.

Soria allowed two singles in the ninth, but induced a double play off the bat of Michael Brantley to earn his 10th save.

With the win, the Sox (24-42) are now 15-15 in their past 30 games. That doesn't erase the miserable 9-27 start, but games have been more watchable as of late.

James Shields beats Indians, gets first win since March 29

James Shields

I had a sense that Tuesday's pitching matchup provided the White Sox with their best chance to beat the Cleveland Indians in this week's four-game series.

Sure enough, the Sox won Tuesday, 5-1. 

Does it sound weird that I expected to win a James Shields start? Maybe, but my hopes for victory Tuesday were less about Shields and more about the Cleveland starter, Adam Plutko.

Plutko's name is not Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer or Mike Clevinger, and I figured he would be the one Indians starter the Sox could hit.

They hit him all right, as Yoan Moncada and Yolmer Sanchez hit home runs on back-to-back pitches in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Davidson added a pair of RBI doubles -- one in the first and one in the fifth -- and Omar Narvaez contributed an RBI single as the Sox touched up Plutko for five runs over 4.2 innings.

And, oh yeah, credit Shields (2-7) for doing his job. He went seven innings and allowed only one run on four hits. He didn't miss many bats -- only two strikeouts -- but he didn't walk anybody, and he induced a fair amount of weak contact with 14 fly-ball outs.

Shields has pitched six innings or more in each of his past 10 games, and this is his first victory since March 29 -- the season opener in Kansas City. His ERA is down to 4.63, after being at 6.14 after the month of April.

Is Shields emerging as a potential midseason trade candidate? I'm not holding my breath, but Sox fans can hope. He's pitching better now than at any point since he put on a Sox uniform.

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco suddenly owns the White Sox

Carlos Carrasco

Carlos Carrasco's career numbers against the White Sox aren't particularly impressive.

The 31-year-old veteran has made 21 career starts against the South Siders, going 7-9 with a 4.27 ERA.

Pretty mediocre, right?

But if you do a deeper dive into the numbers, you will find there was a time when the Sox owned Carrasco. From 2011 to 2016, Carrasco made 16 starts against Chicago and lost nine of 12 decisions, posting a terrible 5.60 ERA.

During that era, a Sox fan could feel good about his team facing the Cleveland right-hander.

Those days are gone.

Since the start of the 2017 season, Carrasco has made five starts against the Sox, and he's 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA. That is mastery.

Carrasco continued his dominance Monday night, throwing seven innings of shutout ball in a 4-0 Cleveland victory. He allowed only two hits and struck out 11. The Sox never had a chance.

Obviously, the mix of players has changed significantly for the Sox over the past two seasons. It's apparent the current group has no idea what to do against Carrasco. I cringe now when I see him listed as Cleveland's probable starter.

White Sox knock Red Sox out of first place

Chris Sale

The Boston Red Sox entered this weekend with a 22-9 record at home, and they led the AL East by a half-game over the New York Yankees.

Boston is now 23-11 at home, and a half-game behind the Yankees, after it inexplicably lost two out of three to the White Sox over the weekend. The Red Sox were throwing their three most accomplished pitchers -- Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello -- against the White Sox, which makes the Chicago victory all the more shocking.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, June 8
White Sox 1, Red Sox 0: At the start of the season, Dylan Covey (2-1) wasn't on the Sox's 40-man roster. Now, he's won a pitchers' duel against Sale.

Sale did what you would expect: He went eight innings, allowing one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts and only one walk.

Covey did what you wouldn't expect: He tossed six shutout innings, allowing only three hits and one walk while striking out seven. Really, Covey has the same sinker-slider arsenal he had last season when he went 0-7. The difference this year? His fastball is sitting at 93 to 95 mph, instead of 91 to 93. Remarkable that he's had a bit of a velocity jump in his age-26 season.

The Sox's lone run came in the seventh, when Trayce Thompson singled over a drawn-in infield to score Kevan Smith, who hit a bloop ground-rule double earlier in the inning.

Three Sox relievers combined for three scoreless, hitless innings, with Joakim Soria earning his seventh save of the season.

Saturday, June 9
Red Sox 4, White Sox 2: Three Sox errors cost Carlos Rodon two runs in his first start of the season, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.

Rodon's stuff looked better as his outing moved along. He got himself into a first-and-third, no-outs jam in the bottom of the fourth inning, but he struck out Blake Swihart, Jackie Bradley and Andrew Benintendi in succession to escape trouble.

He finished with seven strikeouts and two walks, while allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings. Alas, two of the six hits were homers -- one by Bradley and the other by J.D. Martinez, and that combined with the errors led to the Sox's demise.

The South Siders scored two runs in the first inning off Price, but the Boston left-hander put up five zeroes after that, and the Red Sox bullpen tossed three innings of scoreless relief.

Sunday, June 10
White Sox 5, Red Sox 2: Tim Anderson had no hits in this game, but his play was one of the biggest factors in the outcome.

The Sox's shortstop worked a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the top of the third inning to put his team ahead for good at 2-1. He saved a run with his glove by ranging deep in the hole to take away a hit from Xander Bogaerts in the fifth. He worked a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, and later scored from second base on a groundout by Thompson, after Porcello tripped while cover first base on the play.

Three big plays by Anderson, two that created runs for the Sox, and one that took away a run from Boston.

Reynaldo Lopez (2-4) picked up the win for the Sox. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out six and walked three.

Jace Fry recorded four outs out of the Sox bullpen, including one with the bases loaded in the seventh and the Sox clinging to the a 3-2 lead.

Daniel Palka's two-out, two-run double in the top of the ninth provided some breathing room, and Soria pitched the bottom half of the inning for his eighth save.

White Sox select infielder Nick Madrigal with No. 4 pick in MLB draft

In a decision that wasn't surprising, the White Sox selected Oregon State infielder Nick Madrigal with the No. 4 overall pick in Monday's MLB draft.

Madrigal has been playing second base this season, but has played shortstop in the past. His fielding percentage is 1.000, and his offensive slash isn't half-bad either: .406/.470/.586 with three home runs, four triples, seven doubles, 32 RBIs and 32 runs scored in 32 games.

Unlike other Sox prospects, the hit tool seems to be Madrigal's strength. He has only struck out five times in 133 at-bats this season, and some consider him to be the best pure hitter in this year's draft.

Coming into the draft, the debate seemed to be whether the Sox would select Madrigal or Florida pitcher Brady Singer.

Me personally, I'm normally someone who says, "When in doubt, take the pitcher." This time, I broke from the norm and wanted the Sox to take a position player.

From everything I've seen and read, the only pitcher in this year's draft worth a top-5 selection was Auburn right-hander Casey Mize. Detroit took Mize first overall, as expected, and there was never a thought he'd still be on the board for the Sox at No. 4.

I think Singer can be a good pitcher, but I didn't see him as good enough to merit being drafted in the top 5. MLB executives seemed to agree, as Singer fell to Kansas City as the 18th overall selection.

Madrigal was a consensus top-5 pick in every mock draft I saw, so this seems to be a reasonable selection by the Sox.

But he's a middle infielder, you say. What about Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada? Yes, indeed the Sox have a pair of young players in the middle infield that they hope to make cornerstones of their future. However, if Madrigal pans out, and the Sox have too many good players in the middle infield, that's the sort of problem every team would like to have.

And, it's the opposite problem that the Sox have had for most of this decade, which is not enough good players at any position. Thumbs-up for more depth and more options.

White Sox activate Matt Davidson from 10-day DL

Matt Davidson

The White Sox on Monday activated infielder Matt Davidson from the 10-day disabled list and optioned catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and infielder Matt Skole to Triple-A Charlotte.

Davidson, who is hitting .243 with 11 home runs and 28 RBIs in 42 games this season, has been out since May 25 with back spasms.

Gonzalez, who was called up when Welington Castillo was suspended for 80 games for PED usage, went 1 for 9 in his short big-league stint. He collected his first hit and first RBI on Sunday with a game-tying single in the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Skole went 3 for 11 with a solo home run in four games. He became the sixth Sox player in team history to homer in his first major-league game May 28 at Cleveland.

The moves leave the Sox's active roster at 24 men. We'll see two more players added before Tuesday's doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.

Obviously, one of the two will be a catcher. Both Kevan Smith and Dustin Garneau are on the 40-man roster. We shall see which player gets the call. I predict it will be Smith.

The Sox also can add a "26th man" for the doubleheader. It likely will not be a starting pitcher -- both Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez have had enough rest to pitch Tuesday. I figure we'll see a reliever who is on the 40-man roster, such as Juan Minaya or Greg Infante, but only for a day.

Carlos Rodon likely will be activated from the 60-day disabled list before the week is over, but that probably won't happen Tuesday, since Rodon just pitched for Triple-A Charlotte on his rehab assignment Sunday. I would not be surprised to see him pitch for the Sox on Friday against Boston.

White Sox (shockingly) win a series against Milwaukee Brewers

Tim Anderson

Next time a Cubs fan makes a snide remark to me while I'm wearing a White Sox shirt or hat around town -- and believe me, that happens often -- I'll be sure to point out that the Sox did the Cubs a favor by taking two out of three games from the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend.

This marks the first time the Sox (18-38) have won a series against a legitimate contender this season, and the Brewers (37-23) saw their division lead over the Cubs trimmed from four games to two.

Here's a look back at the weekend's action:

Friday, June 1
White Sox 8, Brewers 3: The Sox fell behind 3-0 early as starting pitcher Hector Santiago got knocked out in the fourth inning, but the hitters battled back with three runs in the third, three in the sixth and two in the seventh.

The offensive output was satisfying, as the Sox roughed up three Milwaukee relievers who used to play on the South Side of Chicago -- Boone Logan, Matt Albers and Dan Jennings.

Tim Anderson's two-out, two run triple in the sixth off Albers broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Sox the lead for good. Moments later, Omar Narvaez singled home Anderson to make it 6-3.

The Sox tacked on two more in the seventh against Jennings. Meanwhile, the Brewers could not muster a single hit against a combination of five Sox relievers -- Chris Volstad, Luis Avilan, Joakim Soria, Bruce Rondon and Nate Jones -- over the last 5.2 innings of the game. Avilan (2-0) picked up the win.

Saturday, June 2
Brewers 5, White Sox 0: I've been critical of James Shields, but some credit is due to him, despite his 1-6 record.

Sure, he took the loss again Saturday, but he pitched a respectable game. He went seven-plus innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out six and walked only one. The three runs allowed all came on solo home runs.

Some days, that's good enough to win. Shields has had a lot of games recently where he was good enough to win, and just didn't because of the bad team around him.

Shields has worked seven innings or more in four consecutive starts. He has worked six innings or more in eight consecutive starts. Six of the eight have been quality starts, but none of them have resulted in wins.

Tough luck.

On Saturday, the Sox managed only five hits against the combination of Jhoulys Chacin (4-1) and two Milwaukee relievers. That is not a recipe for success.

Sunday, June 3
White Sox 6, Brewers 1: Albers didn't take the loss in this game -- Milwaukee starter Brent Suter (5-4) did -- but the portly former Sox reliever wore the goat horns once more.

With the score tied at 1, Yolmer Sanchez's leadoff single in the sixth inning sent Suter to the showers in favor of Albers, and two batters later, pinch hitter Daniel Palka launched a 433-foot home run to right field that gave the Sox a 3-1 lead. Adam Engel made it back-to-back homers with a wall scraper that deflected off the glove of Milwaukee center fielder Lorenzo Cain and over the fence. 4-1 Sox.

The Sox got to Jennings again, as well, as they added two runs in the eighth. Sanchez walked and scored on a double by Jose Abreu. Moments later, Engel doubled home Abreu to cap the scoring.

Sox starter Dylan Covey pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball, but he received a no-decision. The win went to Volstad (1-3), who combined with Avilan to get through the sixth inning. Soria, Jace Fry and Chris Beck each pitched scoreless innings to close it out.

You're welcome, Cubs.