Flawless in Seattle
Mercedes continues torrid start, Rodon strikes out 9 in 5 IP in shutout of Mariners
SEATTLE — Yermin Mercedes extended his early tear with three more hits, Carlos Rodon struck out nine and the Chicago White Sox held the Seattle Mariners to three hits in a 6-0 victory Monday night.
Mercedes is the first player since at least 1900 to total 12 hits in his first four career starts — all in the first week of this season. He also was the first player since at least 1900 to start a season 8 for 8. The 28-year-old designated hitter is up to 12 of 18.
“The really good hitters don’t throw at-bats away,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “If they come to bat 10 times, they give themselves a chance 10 times and they get three hits. . He does that with his talent. It’s all about what’s next.”
Yasmani Grandal hit his 150th homer, driving in three runs and scoring twice to help Chicago snap a two-game skid.
“Not too many people get to hit 150 homers in the big leagues,” the catcher said. “Hopefully we can get 150 more. We’ll see.”
Rodon (1-0) allowed two hits over five innings in his first appearance of the season. Michael Kopech followed with five strikeouts over two innings, allowing a walk and a hit, and Jose Ruiz closed it out with two perfect innings.
Rodon and Kopech became the first White Sox teammates to strike out at least five in the same game without giving up a run. Chicago pitchers struck out all nine Mariners batters at least once and Rodon said it gets worse for the Mariners, who face White Sox ace Lucas Giolito on Tuesday.
“It’s not exactly fair,” Rodon said. “This staff is very, very impressive.”
Rodon wasn’t totally sharp. He allowed a runner to reach third with an errant pickoff attempt, walked three consecutive batters in the fourth inning for Seattle’s most significant scoring threat and hit two batters with pitches. But the outing showed promise.
“He just continues to improve,
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doesn’t he?” La Russa said. “You think about his first bullpen to his first batting practice to his first game. And now every time he goes out there, he’s taking another couple steps forward.
“It means a lot of important things for us going down from here to October.”
Left-hander Justus Sheffield (0-1) allowed six runs
— four earned — and eight hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out five. He was stung by third baseman Kyle Seager’s fourth-inning bobble of a potential double-play ball on a grounder by Grandal.
“We didn’t help him out at all with our defense,” manager Scott Servais said. “The ball is going to be put in play on the ground and, you know, it happens. Guys are going to make errors and that’s part of the game.”