A day after David Sandlin dominated in his major-league debut, the White Sox were still raving about his performance.
“It was outstanding,” manager Will Venable said on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Sandlin made quite an impact, retiring 18 straight batters after giving up a leadoff homer to Byron Buxton in a 15-2 romp over the Twins on Wednesday.
The only hit he allowed was on the game’s second pitch, when Buxton sent a 417-foot drive to left-center for his 17th homer.
Sandlin settled in after that, retiring the next 18 batters. He exited after six innings and just 61 pitches.
“I haven’t chirped him yet. If I had to, it probably would be he got pulled after 61 pitches,” veteran lefty Anthony Kay said in jest. “If that’s any of us, we are begging to go out and get the complete game. But first game, it was a blowout. We’ll let this one slide. We’ll let him get comfortable before we start chirping him.”
Sandlin began his professional career with Kansas City after the Royals drafted him out of Oklahoma in the 11th round of the 2022 amateur draft. He spent time in Boston’s system before being dealt to the White Sox last winter along with Jordan Hicks.
Sandlin was the prize in that transaction. After making two starts for Class A Winston-Salem and four for Triple-A Charlotte, he made a great first impression on the White Sox.
“I don’t know about surprise, you just do the best job of having an understanding of their skill set as they come up here and you want to put them in spots where you think they can succeed,” Venable said. “You never really know how that’s going to go until you get here and you’re out on the field and competing. Certainly these guys have done a great job of being ready for these moments, and credit to them and the (player development) staff for being able to dial in the right things and be prepared for the transition up here.”
Streak’s over
Munetaka Murakami’s home run streak ended at three games. But he still made an impact in Thursday’s 6-2 win.
The slugger walked and scored in the third and doubled in a run in the fourth. He was also caught stealing to end the seventh after leading off with a walk.
“He’ll continue to get the green light in spots,” Venable said. “He had the green light. It wasn’t a steal sign, it was just a decision that he made. He saw something that he liked and obviously didn’t work out.”
Looking ahead
Kay will try to build on a string of solid outings after a slow start to the season when he gets the ball against Detroit on Saturday.
The left-hander is 3-0 in his past five starts. He has gone at least five innings in each of those outings and allowed no more than three runs.
He is 4-1 with a 3.96 ERA in nine starts and 11 appearances after spending the previous two seasons in Japan.
“There was some doubt if I could do it in the big leagues,” Kay said. “The last month I’ve shown that I’m capable of belonging here and being a good pitcher here.”
On Friday, the White Sox are scheduled to go with Erick Fedde (0-5, 5.47 ERA). Troy Melton (1-0, 1.59) starts for Detroit.