Rodon, White Sox dominate Phillies

[August 24, 2016]  CHICAGO -- Left-hander Carlos Rodon appears to be gearing up for another strong finish.

The Chicago White Sox left-hander allowed three hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings as the Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-1 on Tuesday to open a two-game interleague series.

"When you're in the zone you just try to stay in it and that's what I'm hoping for," said Rodon, who earned his second win in three starts and delivered his fourth straight quality outing. "In the future, just have a complete year instead of just doing it in the second half."

Rodon (4-8) threw 109 pitches, including 71 strikes. He walked one and struck out four.

In his 2015 rookie year, Rodon went 4-1 in his final five starts to finish 9-6 with a 3.75 ERA. This year he went 1-5 between May 1 and July 31.

"He pitched well, he used the whole plate and he changes speeds quite a bit," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He has a good arm, good fastball, and we couldn't catch up to it."

Jose Abreu and Justin Morneau each homered to help give Rodon ample offensive support as Chicago (60-64) scored once in the first inning and added three runs apiece in the third and fifth, then two more in the sixth.

Tim Anderson singled, tripled, drove in two runs and scored twice. Adam Eaton also tripled and scored twice.

Philadelphia (58-68) dropped its second straight and fifth in its past seven.

Phillies starter Jake Thompson (1-3) worked five innings in his first career start against Chicago. He gave up seven runs on eight hits, struck out two and walked four.

"Too many pitches up in the strike zone," Mackanin said. "Everything he threw was thigh-high, waist-high, couldn't get the ball down. It's as simple as that."

Philadelphia shortstop Freddy Galvis broke the shutout in the seventh with a solo homer to right off White Sox reliever Chris Beck.

Eaton launched his eighth triple of the season off the left field wall -- extending a career high -- to lead off the White Sox first. Anderson's groundout to shortstop brought him home with the game's first run.

Eaton reached on a leadoff bunt single in the third and came home on Anderson's triple to deep right. After Melky Cabrera walked, Anderson scored on Abreu's single to center.

White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Cabrera reached third on Morneau's fielder's choice grounder and accounted for the inning's third run on Todd Frazier's sacrifice to right.

Back-to-back home runs from Abreu and Morneau off Thompson in the fifth extended the White Sox lead to 7-0.

Abreu, who has homered in three straight games, clubbed his 17th of the season and scored Cabrera. Morneau followed with a solo shot to right for his fifth.

"I'm going to go back to the drawing board and figure it out a little bit," said Thompson, who is 0-2 with a 12.54 ERA and three strikeouts in two road starts.

NOTES: This series between the Phillies and White Sox is only the fifth all-time meeting in interleague play and second at U.S. Cellular Field. The hosts took two of three in the only previous Chicago meeting in 2004. ... Phillies manager and Chicago native Pete Mackanin starred at Brother Rice High School, only 12 miles from U.S. Cellular Field, and was drafted out of high school by the Washington Senators in 1969. ... Philadelphia sends RHP Jerad Eickhoff (8-12, 3.91 ERA) against Chicago RHP James Shields (5-15, 5.98 ERA) in Wednesday's series finale. ... The White Sox activated OF Avisail Garcia (sprained right knee) off the 15-day disabled list following a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago optioned OF Jason Coats to Charlotte. He was batting .189 with two doubles, one home run and three RBIs over three stints with the White Sox.

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.