Rodón masterful (again) in Game 1 win

CHICAGO -- Carlos Rodón was brilliant and the White Sox offense was good enough during a 3-1 victory over the Tigers in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Rodón set a career high with 12 strikeouts and allowed one run over six innings in his fourth straight dominant start to open the 2021 season. Rodón had not pitched since April 20 in Cleveland but there was no evidence of rust, as he struck out five straight between the second and third.

During the month of April, which marked one of the most impressive runs of Rodón’s career, the left-hander posted a 4-0 record with a 0.72 ERA. He struck out 36 over 25 innings, allowing nine walks and seven hits, while limiting opposing hitters to 7-for-82 overall.

“It definitely feels good,” Rodón said. “I put a lot of work into doing what we've done thus far. Just try to keep building to the next start.”

“He's established a really good relationship with (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz). They've started working and talking,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He's the one that's got to take it out there. Coaches, everybody helps, but can't say enough for the way he's competing.”

Casey Mize matched Rodón for four innings, before Jake Lamb opened the fifth with a single to right. Andrew Vaughn and Zack Collins walked to load the bases, and Lamb scored when first baseman Miguel Cabrera bobbled Billy Hamilton’s grounder and had to settle for an out at first, although Lamb had a great break off third. Leury García, who entered the game hitting .176, delivered a single to center to score two and break the tie.

“He put the ball in play with a good swing on a good pitch to hit,” La Russa said. “Easy to say, hard to do. You've all seen it more than I have, and I've seen it some. He's a really good player. When he gets going, he'll be a tremendous asset for us."

Detroit scored its run in the fourth. Robbie Grossman singled for the first baserunner against Rodón, swiped second and came home on Jonathan Schoop’s two-out double. But they did little else against Rodón.

“Everything he's done, he's earned,” La Russa said. “He's got to realize there's five more months of starts. Six months, hopefully."

“I think it just built off Spring Training, the work we put in the offseason, during spring it just carried over,” Rodón said. “Like I said, I just want to keep going with it, keep running with it.”