TORONTO -- Eight days between starts and the four-day All-Star break did little to cool off White Sox right-hander Sean Burke, who continued a stretch of dominant outings on Sunday at Rogers Centre.
Burke was locked in right from the first pitch against the Blue Jays, as he opened the game by retiring the first 10 batters he faced before proceeding to deliver 6 2/3 scoreless innings in which he struck out five and allowed just three baserunners in Chicago’s 3-0 win.
The 26-year-old attacked Toronto’s lineup in the zone, throwing 69 of his 98 pitches for strikes, and was in the driver’s seat for most of the game, tossing a first-pitch strike in 78 percent of at-bats in the game.
“He was awesome. He was in the zone with the fastball, and it opened up some stuff for him,” White Sox manager Will Venable said postgame. “He was ahead in the count all day. Really, a clinic on both sides in count leverage. [Blue Jays starter Trey] Yesavage did a great job, too. Just really good pitching.”
The win came one day after being kept off the scoreboard in a 1-0 loss, but the White Sox were able to push three runs across against Yesavage, who struck out nine in his six innings.
First, it was Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly in the fourth that opened the scoring for Chicago. Then Colson Montgomery’s solo blast in the sixth was followed by a double from Benintendi and a run-scoring single from Braden Montgomery, which gave the White Sox and their pitching staff some insurance heading into the later innings.
“We kind of got back to being us,” Colson Montgomery said of Chicago’s performance at the plate. “First couple innings, Yesavage was executing, but we all came in, felt like we saw him pretty well.”
The first-place White Sox now sit at 52-46, with a series win north of the border secured coming out of the break.
“We’re a really good team, and we’ve had success and we’re confident in ourselves,” Colson Montgomery said. “I think that’s what’s most dangerous about a young team: when they’re confident. And we all have a chip on our shoulder because we want to keep proving everyone wrong, [because] this is what we expected.”
Beyond Burke, Chicago turned to relievers Bryan Hudson and Grant Taylor to lock down the shutout and head to Texas on a positive note.
Although he didn’t generate as much swing-and-miss as he did entering the break, Burke did an excellent job in limiting damage, as just four of the 17 balls the Blue Jays put in play came at 95 mph or harder.
“I don’t think from a pure stuff perspective, it was as good as it has been the past couple starts, but I thought the sequencing was really good,” Burke said postgame. “I thought the command of my stuff was really good and [Drew] Romo did an unbelievable job calling the game.”
It built on what has been a string of solid performances for Burke, who posted a 1.69 ERA while striking out 42 and walking just five over his last five appearances (four starts) and 32 innings before the All-Star break.
“To me, it's just being aggressive with the fastball, and you kind of feel it when he's doing it, and his confidence in it -- it just kind of radiates from him,” Venable said pregame of what has fueled Burke’s recent success. “And then once he's able to establish that, he goes to the offspeed stuff. He's had the cutter, the slider and the curveball working for him in spots, but it really comes after the fastball for me.”
The fastball certainly played for Burke on Sunday. He used the offering 31 times and allowed just one hit with the pitch, frequently getting the Blue Jays to either foul it off or put it in play for an out.
“He’s been electric,” Colson Montgomery said. “The way he’s been pitching, we just know we’re gonna get his best every single day. He’s just a competitor. He’s a dog. He just goes out there, and he’s like, ‘Here it is, try to hit it.’”
Burke’s outing capped an excellent weekend series for Chicago’s pitching, as the White Sox limited the Blue Jays to just five runs over the three games -- a trend they’d like to continue down the stretch run as they try to remain atop the American League Central.