SEATTLE – Yerm’in Mercedes continued his early season tear with three hits, Carlos Rodon struck out nine and the Chicago White Sox three-hit the Seattle Mariners 6-0 on Monday night.
Mercedes is the first player since at least 1900 to total 12 hits in his first four career starts – all in the first week of this season. He was also the first player since at least 1900 to start a season 8 for 8. The 28-year-old designated hitter is up to 12 of 18.
Yasmani Grandal hit his 150th homer, driving in three and scoring twice to help Chicago snap a two-game skid.
Rodon (1-0) allowed two hits over five innings in his first appearance of the season. Michael Kopech followed with five strikeouts over two innings, allowing a walk and a hit, and Jos’e Ruiz closed out with two perfect innings.
White Sox pitchers struck out all nine Mariners batters at least once, although Rodon wasn’t totally sharp. He allowed a runner to reach third with an errant pickoff attempt, walked three consecutive batters in the fourth inning for Seattle’s most significant scoring threat and hit two batters.
Left-hander Justus Sheffield (0-1) allowed six runs – four earned – eight hits and two walks, striking out five in five innings. He was stung by third baseman Kyle Seager’s fourth-inning bobble of a potential double-play ball on a grounder by Grandal.
The White Sox scored three runs in the inning with RBIs from Andrew Vaughn and Billy Hamilton and added two more in the fifth on Grandal’s RBI single.
It was the 16th consecutive win for Chicago against left-handed starters, tying the 1963 Baltimore Orioles for the second-longest streak in major league history. Only the 2004-05 Atlanta Braves have a longer winning streak against lefties with 18.
The White Sox last lost to a lefty in September 2019, going 14-0 in 2020 to become the first team to finish a season undefeated against either right- or left-handed pitchers.
Mariners: outfielder Kyle Lewis took another step in his recovery from a deep bone bruise in his right knee when he started hitting in the batting cages under the stadium.
