Three days after completing their first sweep of the Blue Jays in a decade, the White Sox ran into a pitcher nobody outside of Baltimore had circled on a scouting report. Brandon Young — recalled from Triple-A Norfolk hours before first pitch to fill a rotation hole — threw five scoreless innings, and that was enough. The Orioles won 2-1, handed Chicago its first home loss of the season, and snapped their own three-game skid in one cold Monday night at Rate Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| CHW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Young Was the Story
Young started a dozen games for Baltimore in 2025 but opened this year at Triple-A. With Zach Eflin on the 15-day IL and the Orioles' rotation in flux, he got the call Monday morning. He made the most of it. Young scattered two hits and two walks over five innings, kept the Sox off the board, and earned the win. Chase Meidroth went 2-for-3 against him and reached base in both of his plate appearances, but nobody else did much damage. The Sox put runners on base in four of Young's five innings and came away with nothing.
Four Baltimore pitchers combined on a four-hitter. Tyler Wells followed with two scoreless innings, Rico Garcia handled the eighth, and Ryan Helsley closed it — though not cleanly. Helsley walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth before regrouping to strand them.
The Fourth Inning — and Hays Goes Down
Erick Fedde had retired eight straight before the fourth inning gave him trouble. With two outs and Adley Rutschman on first, Tyler O'Neill hit a high pop fly toward the left field line. Austin Hays ranged over to make the catch but pulled up with a right hamstring strain and couldn't reach it. The ball fell fair, Rutschman scored all the way from first, and Hays was done for the night — and likely much longer. Manager Will Venable confirmed afterward that Hays would go on the injured list. Derek Hill replaced him in left.
It was a fluky play that turned into a real run. The kind of thing that shouldn't happen and did anyway.
Henderson Put It Away
Whatever doubt remained ended two innings later. Gunnar Henderson led off the sixth and hit a Fedde pitch 105.3 mph to right field — gone before it left the infield dirt. His third home run of the season, and a ball hit that hard rarely needs a second look. It made it 2-0 and that ended up being the ballgame.
Fedde's final line was respectable — six innings, five hits, two earned runs, one walk, four strikeouts. He pitched well enough to win. Young pitched better.
The Ninth Wasn't Enough
The Sox had one real threat and it came at the end. Helsley issued back-to-back walks to lead off the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate. Lenyn Sosa — pinch hitting — grounded into an RBI, cutting it to 2-1, and Andrew Benintendi followed with an infield single to load the bases with one out. Helsley then fanned Edgar Quero to end it. One hit shy.
The Sox finished with four hits. Meidroth's 2-for-3 afternoon was the only multi-hit performance in the lineup. Munetaka Murakami went 0-for-4.
Up Next
The White Sox (4-6) and Orioles (4-6) play again Tuesday — though not at the original time. The game has been moved up to 2:10 p.m. CT due to forecast cold temperatures. Shane Smith (0-2, 19.29 ERA) starts for Chicago against Baltimore lefty Trevor Rogers (2-0, 1.38 ERA). It's a steep hill. Two more games remain in this series at Rate Field.