White Sox 5, Blue Jays 0: Garrett Crochet pitches another gem to snap losing streak

Good news: Garrett Crochet continues his dominance in May as he shut out the Blue Jays over six innings to increase his scoreless innings streak to 19.

Bad news: Eloy Jiménez got hurt again by, again, running the bases. 

White Sox hitters had a tough assignment as Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi is having a solid start to 2024. Yet the White Sox scored first when Nicky Lopez drove in Korey Lee with an RBI single in the second. It took a great slide by Lee at home plate to avoid the tag as he barely beat Davis Schneider’s offline throw. But with that first run, the White Sox streak of scoring first extended to four-straight games. 

In the fifth, Jiménez roped a double to left field, pushing Andrew Vaughn to third after a one out walk to put two runners in scoring position. After Paul DeJong struck out, it was up to the new guy, Corey Julks, to pull through with two outs. On a 2-1 fastball, Julks squared up the offering from Kikuchi for a ground ball single to left field. Vaughn easily scored from third, but it was on this play that Jiménez got hurt. As he rounded third and headed for home, Jiménez pulled up in discomfort for what the White Sox said was a left hamstring strain. 

Up 3-0, Danny Mendick extended the Sox lead in the eighth with a two-run double off the top of the wall in left. White Sox hitters were 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position on the night, which is a welcomed change of pace. 

The five runs of support were more than enough for Crochet. He started the game retiring 13-straight hitters before Justin Turner ended the perfect game attempt with a one-out double off the wall in left. Turner wouldn’t score, and Ernie Clement would be the only other Blue Jay to record a hit for the night with a sixth inning single. 

This outing for Crochet is more interesting because he only struck out four hitters. That’s the fewest punchouts in a start from Crochet since April 19, when he only lasted three innings against the Phillies. It wasn’t elite swing-and-miss stuff from Crochet that worked for him this evening. On 40 swings, the Blue Jays only whiffed 10 times. Instead it was Crochet missing barrels, as the average exit velocity on contact made by Blue Jays hitters was 85.6 MPH. 

Pitching to induce weak contact is not how one would think Crochet would dominate an opposing team, but it’s an interesting wrinkle. Since Crochet got beat up by the Phillies and Minnesota Twins in mid-April, he’s only allowed three earned runs in his last five starts, spanning 28 innings. That type of hot streak is a big reason why the White Sox have now won four-straight starts by Crochet. 

Game Notes:

• Manager Pedro Grifol confirmed that Nick Nastrini will join the team in Toronto and start Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays. 
• Julks is 4-for-10 with a double, home run, and two stolen bases since joining the Sox
• Dominic Fletcher did make an appearance as he pinch hit for Zach Remillard. Fletcher walked and scored. 

Record: 15-34 | Box Score | StatCast