Shane Smith's recent outing against the Royals, despite being subpar by his standards, highlighted his resilience and ability to limit damage. Over five innings, he allowed two runs while navigating challenging situations repeatedly without letting them escalate. Though he faced difficulty in the later frames, Smith managed to keep the game close, preventing the White Sox from exhausting their bullpen. While impressed with his control and recovery, he expressed dissatisfaction with his performance, particularly in finishing off hitters effectively later in the game.
His effectiveness started to wane in the fourth. He allowed a leadoff single to Bobby Witt Jr., then struck out Vinnie Pasquantino before walking Salvador Perez on an eight-pitch at-bat and allowing an RBI single to Maikel Garcia to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Smith rebounded by striking out Michael Massey and getting Drew Waters to ground out.
It wasn't Smith's cleanest outing, but it was perhaps one of his most impressive. In a couple of innings that could have taken a turn for the worse and led to the Sox burning through their bullpen, he kept the Royals at bay.
Smith wasn't pleased with the quality of his last three innings after breezing through the first three. He mentioned he needed to do a better job of finishing off hitters.
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