With a late loss, Chicago White Sox fall to 1-14 in last 15 games against the Baltimore Orioles

Chicago White Sox starter Shane Smith got the best of Gunnar Henderson in an epic 12-pitch at-bat with the bases loaded in the second inning on Tuesday, striking out the Baltimore Orioles star shortstop.

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“Just trying to throw everything in the zone and make him make a decision,” Smith said.

Henderson made the right decision in the eighth inning, hitting a tie-breaking, two-run home run against reliever Chris Murphy as the Orioles topped the Sox 4-2 in front of 10,750 at Rate Field.

The Sox allowed three runs in the eighth, falling to 1-14 against the Orioles since 2024. The Sox have lost their last 10 at home to Baltimore dating back to April 15, 2023.

“Credit the Orioles with putting some good swings on some tough pitches,” Sox manager Will Venable said.

Tuesday’s game was moved from the evening to the afternoon in anticipation of cold temperatures. And it was 36 degrees at the time of the first pitch.

Smith had some hot and cold moments, striking out eight while walking five in 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

“Not really putting our team in a good position to win,” Smith said. “Just killing our bullpen. As we get into a season and the games start stacking up, we need these guys to be as fresh as possible.

“Not giving up any runs is a step in the right direction for sure. Walking five probably isn’t. I think there’s good and bad.”

Smith allowed one hit in the laboring 99-pitch outing.

“He did a nice job as far as getting some swing and miss in the zone,” Venable said. “Really good curveball early in the game. The four-seam fastball was better, that’s something he’s struggled with the command of. But obviously the command overall wasn’t there. The number of walks that he issued, the hit batter, still working to be more efficient in the zone.”

While Smith worked out of trouble, the Sox made the most of some two-out hits to take an early lead. Derek Hill began the third-inning rally with a single. Chase Meidroth then hit a blooper that bounced away from left fielder Taylor Ward for an RBI double. Lenyn Sosa followed with an RBI bloop single to center, giving the Sox a 2-0 lead.

The Orioles scored once in the fifth and jumped ahead with the three runs in the eighth. Ward tied the score with an RBI double against reliever Jordan Hicks. Henderson followed with the two-run home run against Murphy.

The Sox brought the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings, but came up short to drop their second straight in the series.

Smith is continuing to work, including making adjustments, to aid the team.

“Davis (Martin) goes six the other day, (Erick) Fedde is throwing really well, (Anthony) Kay is throwing the ball well and Sean (Burke),” Smith said. “You don’t want to be the anchor with any staff or on any team.

“I’m just trying to do well so we can win some ballgames.”

Austin Hays heads to IL, Brooks Baldwin has season-ending surgery

The Sox placed outfielder Austin Hays on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. He suffered the injury while running for a fly ball near the left-field foul line in the fourth inning of Monday’s 2-1 loss.

“We are looking at two to four weeks, hoping it’s on the shorter end,” Venable said before Tuesday’s game. “He’ll get going right away with his rehab and the training staff has gone through this before. Feel good that hopefully it’s on the shorter side here.

“He knows what he has to do and he’ll put in all the work to make this as quick as possible.”

In the corresponding moves, the Sox selected the contract of outfielder Dustin Harris from Triple-A Charlotte and transferred pitcher Mike Vasil (Tommy John surgery recovery) to the 60-day injured list.

“Really excited about everything he can do,” Venable said of Harris. “Offensively, controlling the zone, he’s a good base runner. He’s a guy you can trust is going to do the right thing on defense.”

Harris, 26, appeared in 21 games with the Texas Rangers in 2024-25, hitting 10-for-46 (.217) with two home runs and five RBIs. He signed with the Sox organization as a minor-league free agent in December and joins the big-league team after going 7-for-28 (.250) with three RBIs and seven runs in eight games with Charlotte.

“Been working at it for a while and just happy to be out here and helping this club win,” Harris said before Tuesday’s game.

The Sox also announced that outfielder/infielder Brooks Baldwin elected to undergo a season-ending UCL internal brace procedure on his right elbow on April 1. Baldwin, who was placed on the 10-day on March 26, is expected to be ready by spring training.

“As something he’s dealt with before, he wasn’t feeling like there was enough progress and had surgery,” Venable said.

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