Sale breezes through five-plus in White Sox win
Lefty allows one run, strikes out two in second start; Konerko homers
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The mound excellence of Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale had Monday's 3-1 White Sox victory over the Rockies at Camelback Ranch seemingly over almost before it began.
That fact held true for at least the first five innings, which were played in a crisp one hour and 18 minutes. The Rockies could do precious little against the White Sox southpaw, as Sale needed just 50 pitches to complete those first five, with 31 of them going for strikes.
Yorvit Torrealba broke up Sale's shutout leading off the sixth, launching his first Cactus League home after working the count full. Sale's day ended one pitch later when Tyler Colvin beat out an infield hit up the middle.
For the afternoon, marking Sale's second Cactus League start, Sale allowed one run on three hits, while striking out two and not issuing a walk.
"Yeah, today was one of those clicking-on-all-cylinders days," Sale said. "My arm felt free, felt loose. It felt like I had good command of all my pitches. Just a good day. Had some fun out there and just relaxed and went out and attacked the zone."
Pomeranz was just about as tough as Sale, yielding two runs on four hits over four innings. He fanned three and walked two.
Paul Konerko continued his torrid Arizona hitting with a home run on the first pitch of the second inning from Pomeranz. It was his fifth long ball since Spring Training action began. The White Sox added a run in the third on Angel Sanchez's triple and Gordon Beckham's single.
It could have been a greater rally for the White Sox. But with runners on the corners, nobody out and Adam Dunn at the plate, Jordan Danks was picked off third base by Torrealba.
Up next: Tuesday is a scheduled off-day for the White Sox but not for Jose Quintana. The young left-hander will throw against Minor Leaguers in White Sox camp. Jake Peavy is scheduled to start Wednesday, but he also will pitch on the Minor League side instead of against American League Central rival Cleveland in Cactus League action. Andre Rienzo, fresh off his trip to the World Baseball Classic with Brazil, will start against the Indians. Wednesday's game begins at 3:05 p.m. CT, broadcast live on a free whitesox.com video webcast.