The White Sox didn't look particularly good tonight, but at least it was limited to the uniforms.
While their throwback jerseys from the late 1970s struggled to accommodate 2015 jersey manufacturing, there wasn't anything wrong with their performance, really. The White Sox offense and Carlos Rodon gradually built a 4-0 lead through six innings, and once Rodon's release point left him, four relievers made it hold up without bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth.
Credit Adam Eaton with doing the heavy lifting, with an assist from the Mariners. He went 3-for-3 with an HBP in his four trips to the plate, and he scored three of the White Sox' four runs. He jumpstarted the offense immediately with a leadoff single in the first, then survived one fielder's choice to the left side when Brad Miller booted the grounder and both runner and batter were safe. He then moved to third on a double play and came home when Franklin Gutierrez misread Avisail Garcia's shallow fly and couldn't salvage the play with an awkward dive.
Two innings later, Eaton was at it again. He dusted himself from a high-and-tight pitch to single to center, moved to second on a groundout, then scored on Jose Abreu's blistered double to center field. Abreu then scored the Sox' non-Eaton run on a Trayce Thompson double two batters later.
High-and-tight pitching for Roenis Elias didn't work any better the third time. After knocking down Eaton with an errant breaking ball on a bunt attempt, he plunked him with a fastball. That backfired, because he went from first-to-third on a hit-and-run by Abreu, then scored on Avisail Garcia's sac fly for a 4-0 lead.
(Abreu almost cost the Sox a run by getting thrown out at second trying to advance, but Eaton touched home just before the TOOTBLAN.)
That was all the runs needed for Rodon, who bookended an overall efficient start with some control issues. He walked two batters with two outs to load the bases in the first inning, but after a Don Cooper mound visit, he bounced back to strike out Mark Trumbo on three pitches to end the threat.
He opened the seventh by walking Cano on five pitches, then fell behind 3-0 on Gutierrez. He battled back for a full count, but that only allowed Gutierrez to take him out to right for a two-run homer, cutting the White Sox lead in half. Robin Ventura pulled him right after, even though he'd only thrown 90 pitches, but it was hard to argue with the hook. Ventura quit for Rodon while he was ahead, as he allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five. Better yet, he only needed 55 pitches to get from the second inning through the sixth inning.
Rodon needed an escape job by Zach Duke to take home the win, though. First, Jake Petricka gave up a single to Trumbo, the only batter he faced. When Lloyd McClendon called for lefty Seth Smith, Ventura answered with Duke. Smith won, doubling to left to put the tying run in scoring position. But Duke came back to strikeout Miller and Mike Zunino before getting Ketel Marte to fly out to limit the damage.
Nate Jones created a little trouble for himself, but ultimately pitched around a couple singles for a scoreless eighth. David Robertson had no such issues in the ninth, recording a 1-2-3 inning on 10 pitches for his 27th save.
Record: 60-66 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights