Shane Smith Silences Tigers As White Sox Win 8-1

CHICAGO – One night after hanging 13 runs on the White Sox, the Tigers threatened again. In the third inning Tuesday at Rate Field, two runners reached base with two outs against White Sox starter Shane Smith – a Javier Báez single and a four-pitch walk to Gleyber Torres.

That brought up the hot-hitting Kerry Carpenter, who slugged three home runs on Monday, in a scoreless tie. Smith got ahead in the count as Carpenter fouled off a first-pitch fastball. The rookie right-hander has been one of MLB's starters this season – ranked 14th with a 2.45 ERA among pitchers with at least 60 innings – in large part thanks to a fastball-changeup combination that accounts for 65% of his pitches.

But in order to retire Carpenter, Smith couldn't be predictable. A sign of his development came next as Smith got Carpenter to whiff at a curveball in the dirt, a pitch he uses fourth-most at 10%. Carpenter looked at a low changeup to bring the count to 1-2. So Smith went back to the sharp, downward-breaking curveball, which induced another swing and miss for strike three to end the inning.

"Just tried to keep him off balance a little bit," Smith said. "He’s a really good hitter, he’ll pick up on your patterns of what you’re trying to do. Whether it’s soft, hard, soft, hard, or you stay in one spot too much. Didn’t want to give him something that he really liked, and the curveball felt like the right pitch at the time."

Working out of that jam was crucial for Smith, who finished Tuesday's game with 5.1 innings, 85 pitches, three hits, zero earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts. It was a nice response from back-to-back outings with a season-high three earned runs allowed, displaying the high standard Smith has set in the first 12 starts of his major league career.

"I think introducing the curveball a little bit more was a nice addition," Smith said. "Making sure they’re not leaning over the plate with changeups and fastballs outside, establishing some inside fastball."

"Landing [the curveball] for a strike was big. Introduced it to a righty, which I haven’t really done this year. It’s a nice addition, something I’d like to keep using." 

Tuesday's start also showed how difficult Smith can be to hit when four pitches are working. He threw his hardest fastball of the season on Tuesday at 98.2 mph, and four fastballs ranked in Smith's top eight this season in velocity. His changeup has been his best pitch all season, and his slider induced three outs. Add greater curveball usage and effectiveness, and Smith was able to keep the Tigers off balance.

"It’s a fun balance between, do you stay away from your best pitch or do you lean on it?" Smith said. "It’s just kind of finding the in between there. If they’re leaning out, then we get in. If we stand them up then we spin below and we changeup away. Just making sure you’re setting up your best pitch in a way that makes it usable."