Manager Pedro Grifol had a strategy for trying to contain Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.
“Yeah, try not to pitch to him,” Grifol said before the White Sox lost 3-0 to the Dodgers Monday before 25,070 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field. “He’s one of the hottest hitters on the planet right now.”
The Sox are 21-59 one game away from the halfway mark.
Ohtani had homered in his last three games, and in seven games since taking the injured Mookie Betts leadoff spot, had reached base in 17 of 30 plate appearances with four homers.
But Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet, who tossed 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, is also hot with a 1.53 ERA in his last 11 starts. And he challenged Ohtani, and cooled him off as well, striking him out in the first and fifth innings and getting the left-handed slugger on a ground out in the third.
Grifol pulled Crochet with his pitch count at 91, a workload management move as Crochet, whose career high for innings was 54 1/3 innings in 2021 as a reliever, reached 94 1/3 innings this season.
Crochet threw 12 2/3 innings in the last two seasons due to elbow and shoulder injuries. He entered the game averaging 13.76 strikeouts per nine innings at home, the best in the majors, and his 124 strikeouts were the fourth-most by a Sox pitcher over his first 16 starts of a season and the most since Dylan Cease struck out 125 in 2022.
Dodgers lefty James Paxton held the Sox scoreless over five innings and Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless sixth before the Dodgers broke a scoreless tie on Enrique Hernandez’ RBI double. Shortstop Paul DeJong’s throwing error on Chris Taylor’s ground ball allowed Hernandez to score.
A rain delay in the Dodgers’ seventh following an Ohtani walk lasted 30 minutes.
Ohtani’s sacrifice fly with Michael Kopech pitching in the ninth gave the Dodgers (49-31) a 3-0 lead.
Eloy carries on
A day after returning from the injured list and playing through hamstring soreness Sunday, designated hitter Eloy Jimenez was in the lineup batting fourth.
“Every report I got today was that he was feeling pretty good,” Grifol said. “And [Sunday], I think he said on turns that it might have bothered him a little bit but on straightaways he felt good. We’ll see how it works out today in the game.”
The 6-4, 250-pound Jimenez singled to center, struck out and grounded out his first three times to the plate and appeared to be moving better Monday.
“After injuries like that, I don’t think guys are ever going to be 100 percent, especially mentally,” Grifol said. “They don’t want to get hurt again. Hundred percent, for me, is no pain and no care in the world about getting hurt because they feel great.
“And when you have an injury like that, you might not have no pain or no discomfort, but your mind’s got to be free, too, to where you can go get it.”
This and that
The Sox Double-A Birmingham affiliate clinched the Southern League first-half Northern Division title to claim its first postseason berth since 2013. Low-A Kannapolis of the Carolina League also secured a first-half title.
*Triple-A Charlotte outfielder Mark Payton was named International Player of the Week after batting .478 with three homers and three doubles.