Shane Smith Had One of the Weirdest Pitching Lines You'll See in White Sox Loss
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The Baltimore Orioles remain the Chicago White Sox' Achilles heel (isn't everyone?).
Despite entering the series dropping three straight, Baltimore has been able to keep the Sox in check and win the battle both on the mound and at the plate. To be sure, both games have been close, but Chicago's lack of offensive pop has led to the back-to-back losses. Scott Merkin noted how this 4-2 defeat is now Chicago's 10th consecutive loss to Baltimore at The Rate, and they are now 1-14 against the organization since 2024.
Shane Smith's Weird Day
Almost anything was going to be better than Shane Smith's first two starts of the season. The 2025 All-Star raised some concerns in spring training with his shaky play, and it immediately bled into the regular season with a quick Opening Day showing. Smith pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 3 earned runs and walked a pair.
Jump ahead to his second go at things against the Marlins, and Smith looked even worse. While Will Venable let him go 3.0 innings, Smith let up seven more earned runs and another two walks. It meant he entered Tuesday afternoon's game back at Guaranteed Rate with an eye-popping 19.29 ERA.
His third outing may not have calmed all nerves, but it was at least far more productive. He avoided allowing the Orioles to put any runs on the board and only allowed a single hit. Even better, he struck out eight batters, which included recording all three first-inning outs on a K. He was leaning heavily on his curveball and got a handful of swinging strikes. Smith also won a 12-pitch battle with a big strikeout on power hitter Gunnar Henderson while the bases were loaded.
Shane Smith wins the 12-pitch battle!
— MLB (@MLB) April 7, 2026
He has 6 Ks through 2 innings 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ds4rEsshHp
So ... what went wrong? Somehow, still a lot!
Smith only lasted until the fourth inning for a reason. While he was getting plenty of swings and misses, he was also throwing plenty of balls. In fact, the righty ended up throwing a crazy 99 pitches in his limited action thanks to serious command issues, which led to five walks. Does Smith deserve credit for somehow evading any damage? Yes, but he was surely lucky to get out of there clean, and manager Will Venable likely yanked him at the right time.
Indeed, I'm not sure this game inspires a whole lot of confidence moving forward. It seems like a small step in the right direction, but he still has a lot to prove.
The Andrew Benintendi & Edgar Quero Blues
Andrew Benintendi can't seem to break out of his slump. The veteran came up empty once again on Tuesday, marking his fifth hitless game of the season. He also has yet to record a single run this year and has only walked once in his first 10 appearances.
Benintendi even had a chance to play hero in the bottom of the sixth inning with Colson Montgomery on third and Tanner Murray on first after an error by the Orioles. What came next? Benintendi took one outside before he popped up a sinker for an anti-climactic ending to the inning. The Sox remained down 2-1.
Edgar Quero ran into a similar problem in the bottom of the eighth, down 4-2. This time, Colson Montgomery was standing on second base, and the catcher drew a 3-2 count. Anthony Nunez proceeded to throw a cutter that dropped low and inside. Quero swung at it anyway, leading to the final out of the inning.
Quero finished the day 0-4 with two strikeouts. The quiet day means his batting average has dropped to .148 through his first nine games of action this season. Considering he was arguably the team's best hitter at spring training, there is no question this has been a discouraging start and has played a big role in the team's quiet offense overall.
Bullpen Blows
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
While the offense needed to be better tonight, the bullpen was handed a lead after Shane Smith's bizarre start. What did they do with it? I bet you can guess!
Sean Newcomb was the first to allow a run in the fifth, but the damage really came in the eighth. The Sox still had a slim 2-1 advantage before Jordan Hicks allowed back-to-back doubles to even up the game. Venable promptly switched to lefty Chris Murphy, whose third pitch would be sent out of the ballpark by Gunnar Henderson to give Baltimore the sudden 4-2 lead.
While the pitching looked a lot better against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox are trending back down. Could it only be a matter of time before we see some high-powered Triple-A youngsters called up? It sure feels like we may be getting close.
Elias Schuster is a sports journalist and content creator from the northern suburbs of Chicago. A graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he has covered the Bulls since 2019-20 and previously served as the editor of BN Bulls at Bleacher Nation. He has been the Publisher for Bulls On SI since December of the 2025-26 season. When he isn't obsessing over hoops, Elias spends his time obsessing over practically every other sport – much to his wife's dismay. He also loves strolling the streets of Chicago for the best cozy bar or restaurant to set up shop and write his next article.
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