One thing seemed certain Friday as the White Sox opened a homestand against the division-rival Guardians at Rate Field, fresh — make that bone-weary — off a bonkers 12-11, 13-inning loss in Boston in the second-longest major league game of the pitch-clock era (since 2023):
They needed starting pitcher Noah Schultz to hunker down and give them a bunch of innings.
Instead, Schultz got one out in a shaky first inning before his manager, Will Venable, committed what appeared to be the gaffe of the season — making a mound visit two batters after pitching coach Zach Bove went out there and, by rule, forcing Schultz’s removal from the game.
If that was part of the game plan, no one in the ballpark could have discerned it.
Venable later acknowledged the mistake during an in-game interview with Chicago Sports Network’s Brooke Fletcher.