Shane Smith described his emotions entering Tuesday as “excited.”
“It’s the day you look forward to for a very long time,” Smith said. “And to finally have it happen is pretty surreal. Just a lot of excitement.”
The right-hander made his major-league debut Tuesday, starting for the Chicago White Sox against the Minnesota Twins.
He pitched 5 2/3 innings but didn’t factor in the decision as the Twins rallied to beat the Sox 8-3 in front of 12,089 at Rate Field.
Smith allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
“A little shaky with the first hitter, but after that I settled in pretty good,” Smith said. “Tried to keep the emotions in check kind of leading up to today. I think I did a pretty good job.”
Manager Will Venable was impressed with how the 24-year-old was under control.
“I thought he had composure out there, really overpowering with the fastball, good secondary stuff,” Venable said. “(He) was able to mix it up and get some really good hitters out. And we weren’t able to seal the deal from him there in the sixth.”
Smith left with two on and two outs in the sixth and the Sox leading 3-0. But the next five batters reached against reliever Penn Murfee as the Twins scored five runs in the inning.
“He was ready, he just wasn’t able to make pitches,” Venable said of Murfee. “He’s one of the guys that we trust back there. And the next time we’re in that situation, we’re confident he’s going to get the job done.”
Harrison Bader hit a three-run home run in the ninth against reliever Jordan Leasure as the Twins captured their first win of the season (1-4) while spoiling Smith’s major-league debut.
The Sox selected Smith in the Rule 5 draft from the Milwaukee Brewers. He turned heads during spring training, earning a spot on the roster and in the rotation.
That effectiveness continued right away Tuesday with two strikeouts in the first inning — including Carlos Correa swinging on a changeup for Smith’s first MLB punchout.
Run support came Smith’s way in the second via an RBI single to center by Brooks Baldwin. The Sox extended the lead in the fourth when Andrew Benintendi scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Baldwin, making it 2-0.
Nick Maton hit a solo home run to right, his second of the season, with one out in the fifth to stretch it to 3-0.
Smith retired the first two batters in the sixth, but then walked Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach and exited the game.
“With the two walks, we were ready with Murfee,” Venable said. “Really liked him in that spot. Shane had done his job for the night, and so we thought that was a good spot to turn it over to the bullpen.”
Smith said of the sixth: “I was just getting out of the mechanics a little bit. Whether I say I’m tired or I’m not, if I’m missing fastballs up, that’s an indication. I wanted the last guy. I think every guy wants their last guy. They don’t want to be pulled in the middle of an inning.
“I felt good for most of it, but didn’t throw strikes when I had to.”
The contact wasn’t always hard, but it was effective against Murfee.
Ryan Jeffers drove in a run with a single to right and Ty France followed with an RBI single to center. The two hits had exit velocities of 84.8 and 92.9 mph.
Hanging on to a 3-2 lead, Murfee plunked Willi Castro to load the bases. Edouard Julien tied the score with an RBI single and Jose Miranda gave the Twins the lead with a two-run bloop single to right with an exit velocity of 65.1 mph.
“They do all count and it’s tough when you got a starter like Shane in his debut,” Murfee said. “He did so well. You want to come in and do a job and minimize, get out of the inning for him.
“But I’ll credit those guys. They put the ball where the fielders weren’t and there’s definitely pitches you want to take back in those situations, but all you can do is learn from it and keep going.”
The inning ended when Julien got caught trying to steal home with Fraser Ellard on the mound.
The Sox tried to make a comeback in the eighth. They had runners on first and second with one out when Miguel Vargas hit a liner that appeared to be headed to center field. But the shortstop Correa made a sensational diving catch. Sosa, who along with Benintendi had three hits, struck out to end the threat.
Bader put the game out of reach in the ninth with the three-run home run as the Sox fell to 2-3 on the season.
The game slipped away. But it’s a night Smith, a Massachusetts native, got to share with close to 50 friends and family in attendance.
“Super fortunate to have that many people in my camp and family, friends, family friends,” Smith said. “I’m extremely thankful to have them here.”
