Chicago White Sox starter Davis Martin sprung off the mound, fielded a Kody Clemens comebacker with his bare hand, spun and fired to first for the out in the fourth inning Thursday against the Minnesota Twins.
“As soon as he hit it, I was kind of like, ‘That sucks,'” Martin said. “And then I realized it was hit a lot softer than I expected, so I had a play at it. Knew that I had to barehand it … found it, glove tap and go.”
Third baseman Miguel Vargas gave what Martin termed “inspirational” words after the play, saying, “OK, athlete.”
Martin was in complete control all day, allowing one run in six innings during a 6-2 victory in front of 14,194 at Rate Field.
“Just attacked the zone, the offense started picking up where they left off last night (in a 15-2 win) and so just trying to get the guys back in the dugout to hit,” Martin said. “Big goal today was get aggressive, stay aggressive, and (I) feel like we did a good job of that.”Martin allowed two hits, struck out five and walked two in the 84-pitch outing, helping the Sox win three of four in the series.
“Great outing by Davis, was able to limit the damage, was able to pitch in the zone as we’ve seen,” manager Will Venable said. “Really just the leadoff walk and then the double (in the fifth) was really it. Otherwise he did a great job and thought maybe it wasn’t his best slider tonight, but did a good job pivoting and getting to some other pitches.”
Martin improved to 8-1, surpassing his previous best win total set last year.
“It’s a fun team,” Martin said. “Our offense bangs, we play great defense, it leads to these types of things. I don’t think it’s anything that I’m doing different. It’s a byproduct of a team doing a lot of good stuff together.
“It’s a good team to be a part of, it’s a fun team and it’s exciting every start date waking up knowing that you’ve got a chance to win.”
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The Sox are 15-10 in May, securing their first month with a record over .500 since they went 15-14 in May 2023. They’re 29-27 overall, three games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.
“That’s a credit to the energy around here,” said center fielder Tristan Peters, who had three hits and one RBI. “It’s guys lifting each other up.”
The Sox received contributions across the board Thursday, as has often been the case this month.
It started with Vargas’ two-out walk in the first. He stole second and scored on a single by Colson Montgomery.
Munetaka Murakami walked with one out in the third. With two outs, Montgomery singled and Chase Meidroth walked to load the bases for Peters. He drove in a run with an infield hit. Randal Grichuk followed with a three-run double, stretching the lead to 5-0.
“Typically (Andrew Benintendi) would be in there at DH (against a right-hander),” Venable said. “But Grichuk has been good on both sides of the plate, and with the change so close to the game (Twins lefty Kendry Rojas was scratched because of elbow soreness and righty Simeon Woods Richardson started), just didn’t think it was fair to (Grichuk) or (Benintendi) to make that change. And certainly have confidence in (Grichuk’s) ability to handle both sides on the mound.”
Sam Antonacci singled with one out in the fourth, advanced to second on reliever Andrew Morris’ throwing error on a pickoff attempt and scored on a double by Murakami.
Martin allowed his only run in the fifth and lowered his ERA to 2.00 — sixth in the majors entering Thursday’s night games.
“It’s incredible to watch,” Peters said. “I feel like it makes my job easy out there. Especially seeing it from center field, too, just the way his ball moves. No wonder people are struggling to hit it.”
And Martin keeps growing as a pitcher.
“Confidence really,” Martin said when asked about the difference from a couple of years ago. “Obviously the stuff is great. I think being able to repeat the stuff over and over again. Just understanding the kind of team we have, the offense we have, the kind of stuff I have, it leads to a lot of confidence.”