White Sox Fall 1-0 To Angels; Yoan Moncada Drives In Lone Run To Beat Former Team

CHICAGO – Small mistakes can go a long way in a pitchers' duel.

The White Sox learned that the hard way Saturday at Rate Field. Tied 0-0 in the eighth inning, White Sox reliever Mike Clevinger walked Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler, who advanced from first base to third base on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.

Angels third baseman Yoan Moncada made his former team pay by hitting a sharp ground ball that deflected off Clevinger’s glove to no-man’s land for an infield single. Soler trotted home, and that’s all the Angels needed to secure a 1-0 win and even the series.

The eighth-inning sequence was a disappointing way for the White Sox to take their first loss of the season.

“It sucks,” White Sox catcher Matt Thaiss said. “Our pitching staff, they threw the hell out of the ball. It’s real tough not to get the win today.”

“That was a tough one,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, that hurt us and that was the deciding factor here. But Clev pitched well. Kind of a tough one for Matty to get in front of and we weren't able to work around it, unfortunately.”

Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Cannon got the start for the White Sox, and his debut mirrored Sean Burke’s Opening Day outing in some ways. Both pitchers faced early trouble, but Cannon struck out former White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada looking – after he was booed by fans – to escape a 34-pitch, first-inning jam with one hit and one walk.

Cannon allowed a hit and a walk again in the second inning, but he fielded a come-backer for a double-play to end the inning. The 6-foot-6, 24-year-old settled in after that as just two Angels reached base in the third through fifth innings. During that stretch, Cannon struck out former MVP Mike Trout, induced a popout by former World Series MVP Jorge Soler and struck out Logan O’Hoppe, who homered Thursday.

With 85 pitches, Cannon’s day was over after five scoreless innings. He gave up four hits and walked three batters, but struck out five. Cannon said he was amped up for his first start of the season but settled in as the game went on.

“I thought it was good,” Cannon said. “Definitely a little bit of a battle, didn’t have the command overall but made big pitches when I had to. Thought all the pitches were moving good. Overall it was a good start to the season.”

“[Cannon] used a sinker well at the bottom of the zone,” Venable said. “Got ground balls when he needed to. The four-seamer was working up in the zone and a good changeup, too. He did a great job mixing it up and really nice performance from Jonathan.”

Despite Cannon’s solid debut and scoreless innings from Penn Murfee, Bryse Wilson and Jordan Leasure out of the bullpen, the White Sox didn’t gain any ground on the scoreboard. Through six innings, the lineup mustered just two hits and two walks against Angels starter José Soriano.

Left fielder Andrew Benintendi led off the fourth inning with a single, but first baseman Andrew Vaughn followed by grounding into a double play. Right fielder Brooks Baldwin tried to get a rally going in the sixth after a single, but he ran on the pitch and was doubled off at first base after a Luis Robert Jr. popout to shortstop.

“Yeah, that was a tough one,” Venable said. “The ball just didn't get up high enough really for him to get back there. He's trying to get that base. I think he understood that the ball was in the air and just kind of ran out of time to get back.”

Soriano tossed seven shutout innings with two hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Thaiss was used to that kind of outing from Soriano, who he caught during the 2023 and 2024 seasons when Soriano posted a 3.48 ERA with the Angels.

“He was doing what he does,” Thaiss, an Angel from 2019-24, said. “He fills up the zone. He has a really good high velocity sinker and a curveball. He kept us off balance all day.”

“The guy pounds the zone,” Venable said. “It's multiple fastballs at 100 mph. Tough assignment for anybody. Kind of had us on their heels all day and we just weren't able to kind of string good things together.

The White Sox had two opportunities to tie the game with a base hit in the eighth after Thaiss walked and pinch runner Michael A. Taylor advanced to second on a wild pitch. But a hard-hit line drive from pinch hitter Travis Jankowski flew directly to Angels left fielder Taylor Ward, and Baldwin grounded out to end the inning.

Chicago’s last chance to flip the outcome came in the bottom of the ninth against longtime closer Kenley Jansen. Leadoff hitter Miguel Vargas worked an eight-pitch at-bat, but O’Hoppe snagged a foul tip for a strikeout. Jansen used his patented cutter to paint the inside corner and strike out Robert, though he gave the White Sox some life by walking Benintendi. A home run would have won the game, but Vaughn grounded out to shortstop to end the contest.

With this loss, the White Sox fell to 1-1 on the season. The rubber match is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT Sunday at Rate Field, with White Sox starter Davis Martin taking on Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz.

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