Chicago White Sox rookie left-hander Noah Schultz earned his first major league victory last weekend.
As he aims to win successive starts when he faces the visiting Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon, Schultz is confident he gained perspective, too.
“Calm myself down with nerves and stuff like that, that hopefully are gone,” he said. “Getting ahead of guys and attacking hitters.”
A product of Oswego East High School in suburban Chicago, Schultz (1-1, 3.86 ERA) will pitch at Rate Field for the first time since losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on April 14 in his MLB debut.
Schultz, 22, regrouped Sunday in a road start against the Athletics, yielding only a solo home run in five innings while walking one and striking out six.
He’ll aim again to channel his full arsenal against the Nationals.
“Noah was really good,” Chicago manager Will Venable said. “Got back to the fastball, that’s obviously among his best weapons. And really got to that and did a nice job of mixing the four-seamer, the two-seamer. Ended up landing some sweepers in the zone, the cutter was in the zone, which is a big pitch for him, too.”
Luis Garcia Jr. had two hits and James Wood worked three walks for the Nationals in Friday’s series opener, but Washington struggled to deliver in the clutch.
Seranthony Dominguez struck out Wood with a runner at third base to close a 5-4 victory as the White Sox won for the fourth time in the past five games.
The hot streak has coincided with a power surge for Chicago first baseman Munetaka Murakami, whose solo shot Friday gave him six homers in the past seven games and 11 home runs this season.
Right-hander Jake Irvin (1-3, 6.00 ERA) will start for the Nationals on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game series. After defeating the crosstown Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on March 29 behind five innings of two-run ball, Irvin is 0-3 with a 6.63 ERA in four April starts.
He pitched into the sixth inning during Monday’s 9-4 home loss to Atlanta, allowing four runs (three earned) and three hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
“Good things happen when you get ahead,” Irvin said. “Just give our guys every chance to win.”
Irvin took a no-decision against the White Sox in his lone career appearance against them, last Sept. 27 at Rate Field. He allowed four runs and six hits in six innings, including a two-run home run to Colson Montgomery.
Wood has walked nine times in the past four games and boasts eight games this season in which he has received multiple free passes. His streak of consecutive games with a home run stopped at three on Friday.
Wood leads the National League with 10 home runs, one fewer than Murakami and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez.
Washington’s CJ Abrams went 0-for-4 in the series opener and is 2-for-27 with eight strikeouts in the past seven games.
The Nationals have lost three games in a row and six of their past eight.
–Field Level Media
