The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Chicago White Sox with a 4-0 win that was notable for Gavin Stone throwing the first complete-game shutout of his young career.
The right-hander gave up just four hits and collected seven strikeouts without walking a batter on 103 pitches. Stone allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base twice in two innings but otherwise did not deal with much traffic.
Stone was pleased with his performance and happy to give the Dodgers bullpen some rest, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“That was cool,” Stone said in his usual laconic style. “Just getting the win for the club, we really needed it after using our bullpen yesterday.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Stone for limiting hard contract and having complete control of his pitches:
“That was really fun to watch,” Roberts said.
“The command was an 80 tonight (top grade). … There weren’t many balls hit hard, (Luis) Robert hit that ball really well to line out to (shortstop Miguel) Rojas (in the fourth inning). But outside of that, there wasn’t a whole lot of hard contact. Seven punch (strikeouts), no walk and just in complete control, just a dominant performance.”
Austin Barnes, who was behind the plate, believes Stone had all of his pitches working against the White Sox:
“It’s the same stuff he’s been doing, really,” Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes said. “Sinking the ball. It’s just really uncomfortable (an at-bat). He’s throwing the ball hard, it’s boring in on their hands. Then the slider makes you respect the other side of the plate and he has the ability to throw the four-seamer on the other side of the plate. His changeup, he threw some good ones in there.
“But I think it was just his sinker and slider today that was really helping us throughout the lineup. … He’s got a great little mix. He’s really confident right now. He made it real easy today.”
With the dominant outing, Stone improved to 9-2 with a 2.73 ERA, 3.34 FIP and 1.12 WHIP in 89 innings pitched this season (15 starts). It was the first time he pitched into the eighth inning or later.
Stone gave the Dodgers their first complete-game shutout since Walker Buehler on April 25, 2022. He also became the first Dodgers rookie with a shutout since Hyun-Jin Ryu on May 28, 2013.
Gavin Stone, All-Star?
Stone has pitched at a high level all season, and Roberts said earlier this month that he should receive consideration for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.
While pitchers are excluded from fan voting, three Dodgers players were in position to advance to the next phase as of the latest update.
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