CHICAGO -- The first pitch of White Sox right-hander David Sandlin’s Major League Baseball career was challenged and overturned by the ABS system Wednesday night against the Twins at Rate Field.
Sandlin’s second pitch, a 97.2 mph four-seamer according to Statcast, was launched by Byron Buxton for a leadoff home run. Welcome to the The Show, young man.
But the 25-year-old from Owasso, Okla., certainly didn’t get rattled by a small moment of setback. In fact, Sandlin retired the next 18 batters in leading the White Sox to a 15-2 victory and guaranteeing at least a split in the four-game set.
With that first pitch, Sandlin became the 10th White Sox player to make his MLB debut during the 2026 season, tying them with the ‘25 Athletics for the most by a team before June since 2000, per Elias. Sandlin (Chicago’s No. 18 prospect) struck out four, topping out at 99.3 mph. He threw strikes, moved his pitches around and attacked the zone, needing just 61 pitches (41 strikes) to get through his six innings.
“It’s really good stuff, good fastball, can really spin it,” said White Sox manager Will Venable pregame. “He’s confident with all of his pitches and has the ability to attack the zone.
“He’s got to remain in the zone and let his pitches play because he does have such good stuff. Just like the stuff, the way he goes about his business, very professional. A really good guy.”
Sam Antonacci drove in three, including a two-run single for the White Sox in the second to erase the Buxton-provided 1-0 deficit, and Colson Montgomery’s opposite-field double to left-center against Connor Prielipp brought home a third in the third. The White Sox scored five in the fifth, with Randal Grichuk singling home a run among his three hits, They scored five more in the seventh, punctuated by Chase Meidroth’s first career grand slam and fourth by a White Sox hitter this season, and Munetaka Murakami’s third straight game with a homer.
Murakami has homered in all three games of this Twins series and is tied for the American League lead with 20 on the season. He also picked up his first career stolen base earlier in the game.
They moved back over .500 at 28-27, while improving to 12-3 in their last 15 at home.
Wednesday’s win also guaranteed the White Sox consecutive months at .500 or better for the first time since 2023, when they finished 15-14 in May and 13-13 in June. The White Sox concluded this past April at 13-13 and have a 14-10 mark for May with four games remaining.
Back and elbow soreness hampered Sandlin’s first Spring Training with the White Sox. But he certainly made his presence felt during start No. 1, taking the rotation spot of Noah Schultz, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with right knee patellar tendinitis.