'Incredible tempo' for Kopech in tough-luck outing

PITTSBURGH -- The White Sox were in desperate need of a good start. So, too, was Michael Kopech.

Kopech delivered as the right-hander was dazzling for six innings against the Pirates on Sunday. The White Sox problem, though, was Pittsburgh’s pitchers were a little bit better.

• Box score

The White Sox lost, 1-0, at PNC Park to drop two of three in the series. Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo pitched 6 2/3 innings and combined with three relievers on a six-hit shutout.

Kopech allowed only one run on two hits but ended up with a tough-luck loss. He struck out five and walked three while throwing 102 pitches.

It was quite a turnaround for Kopech (0-2) in his second start of the season. He was raked for five home runs and seven runs total in 4 2/3 innings by the Giants on Monday in the White Sox home opener. The Sox entered Sunday with the worst ERA (7.38) and WHIP (1.82) in the Major Leagues.

“I know what I’m capable of,” Kopech said. “There is always room for improvement. Having a tough one like that, kind of getting back to myself and knowing what my strengths are, is key. Glad to see my fastball playing well. I threw it with intent today. Now, I have more comfort moving into my third [start].”

The Pirates scored the game’s lone run in the second inning. Canaan Smith-Njigba tripled with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jack Suwinski.

The only other hit allowed by the White Sox was Bryan Reynolds’ single in the sixth inning. Jimmy Lambert and Jake Diekman finished the game with one hitless inning apiece.

“From my view, he had great rhythm, incredible tempo,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said of Kopech. “He was aggressive. It was the Michael I’ve seen for a long, long time. The rhythm was really, really good from both the windup and the stretch. He did a lot of good things and made a lot of good pitches.

“The way he composed himself throughout that ballgame was really, really good. When he got into some trouble, he was able to make pitches and get out of it. Extremely encouraged by his outing. Now he’s got to take these four days and work hard and replicate this thing five days from now, six days from now.”

Kopech was able to stay even keeled during an eventful sixth inning.

The Pirates’ Oneil Cruz fractured his left ankle when he was tagged out at home plate while trying to score on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ chopper to third base. Carlos Santana, the on-deck hitter, and White Sox catcher Seby Zavala began arguing after the collision, and both benches and bullpens emptied.

When order was restored, the Pirates had runners on first and second with one out and a one-run lead. Kopech avoided further damage by getting Santana to ground into a fielder’s choice and striking out Ji Man Choi.

Grifol made a mound visit before play resumed.

“I just made sure he took a couple of deep breaths and composed himself,” Grifol said. “He still had really good stuff, and he settled down and made pitches. That’s how you continue to grow. He settled down and made some of his best pitches of the day in that inning, so I was extremely happy.”

Zavala was impressed by his batterymate.

“[Kopech] was great,” Zavala said. “He mixed all his pitches. Had really good sliders. His fastball was working. He did a hell of a job to keep us in the game.”

The White Sox, though, could not muster a run as they fell to 4-6. They came into the game averaging 5.78 runs a game, which ranked fourth in MLB.

Gavin Sheets had three hits, but the White Sox went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

“Really good ballgame,” Grifol said. “Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of that one. We got guys on today, but the base hit with runners in scoring position avoided us. That’s something we’d been doing really well the whole season. Just have to get back after it tomorrow.”