CHICAGO (AP) — Korey Lee went 3 for 3 with an RBI, Garrett Crochet tossed five scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox topped the Washington Nationals 2-0 on Wednesday for their second straight win.
Tommy Pham and Andrew Benintendi each singled and doubled for last-place Chicago. Pham drove in the White Sox’s first run as they won their second straight series and improved to 11-8 since a 3-22 start to the season.
It was the White Sox’s second consecutive shutout of Washington after a 4-0 win over the Nationals in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader.
Crochet (4-4) allowed three hits and left after 89 pitches, 56 for strikes. The 6-foot-6 left-hander struck out six and matched his season high with three walks.
Coming off an 11-strikeout win over Cleveland, Crochet wasn’t as sharp in this one as he went deep in counts and his pitch count climbed.
“It was kind of a grind,” Crochet said. “I put myself in a hole early on. It was like 25 or 26 (pitches) in the first. Another 20-plus in the second and in the third.
“I threw a lot of high-stress pitches and so it really kind of eliminated any opportunity I had to go six (innings) today. The way that our bullpen’s been going lately, as soon as I handed it off, I knew that it was kind of a win in the bag.”
Three White Sox relievers were dominant after that to complete the three-hitter.
Jared Shuster followed with two hitless innings. Jordan Leasure pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. Michael Kopech worked around two walks in the ninth, striking out two, for his fifth save.
“It’s outstanding,” said Lee, the 25-year-old catcher who was behind the plate. “They’re doing it for us. They’ve been throwing strikes and they’ve been coming in in clutch situations. We couldn’t ask for more from them.”
Patrick Corbin (1-4) allowed two runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Lee had his second career three-hit game; his first was in July 2022 with Houston. He’s 12 for 29 in eight games in May and is hitting .309 for the season.
“Swinging at strikes and continuing my approach,” Lee said. “Holding myself accountable and having my teammates hold me accountable and getting good pitches to hit.”
The 36-year-old Pham is batting .319 with two homers and 10 RBIs since joining the White Sox on April 26, and has hit safely in 14 of 18 games.
“He a professional at-bat, every single day,” Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said. “Just how he prepares, I think having him around and having the guys watch him on a daily basis has helped.”
Crochet worked out of a based-loaded jam in the third, after he walked Ildemaro Vargas and Joey Meneses with two outs. He escaped by striking out Keibert Ruiz.
“We get the bases loaded and got a chance to knock in some runs,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “We’re just not getting that timely hit.
“Patrick pitched really good again, we just can’t get that big hit.”
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half on Pham’s run-scoring double down the third-base line.
Lee’s RBI single with two outs in the sixth made it 2-0. He drove in Benintendi, who had doubled to the left-field corner.
The White Sox acquired outfielder Corey Julks from the Houston Astros in a trade for minor-league right-hander Luis Rodriguez, then optioned Julks to Triple-A Charlotte.
The White Sox also recalled outfielder Dominic Fletcher from Charlotte and designated outfielder Rafael Ortega for assignment.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: Rookie third baseman Bryan Ramos sat out with left quad tightness. Manager Pedro Grifol hopes he’ll be ready for Friday’s game against the Yankees in New York.
UP NEXT
Nationals: Jake Irvin (2-3, 3.55 ERA) starts at Philadelphia on Friday.
White Sox: Mike Clevinger (0-1, 5.41) starts against the Yankees in New York on Friday.
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