Dodgers ride Gavin Stone’s shutout to complete sweep of White Sox
CHICAGO — The Dodgers were expected to have a Rookie of the Year candidate in their starting rotation this season.
And they do – even with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list.
Rookie right-hander Gavin Stone threw the first complete game shutout by a Dodgers pitcher since the 2022 season, holding the Chicago White Sox to four hits as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the worst team in baseball with a 4-0 victory on Wednesday night.
It was the Dodgers’ first complete game shutout from a pitcher since Walker Buehler did it against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 25, 2022. Stone’s shutout is the first by a Dodgers rookie since Hyun Jin Ryu threw one against the Angels on May 28, 2013. He is the first Dodgers rookie to throw a shutout on the road since Hideo Nomo did it in 1995.
“Spectacular,” Shohei Ohtani said through his interpreter, using a word often thrown his way. “By the time you realize it, the inning’s over and he just repeated that all night long.”
Indeed, Stone did.
He found the Windy City team a real breeze. He retired 13 of the first 14 batters, needed just 56 pitches to get through the first five innings and retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced. He needed more than 13 pitches to retire the side just once – 15 in the sixth inning.
“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.”
Stone (9-2) has reason to be confident. He has gone at least seven innings in five of his past 11 starts. The Dodgers have won 10 of those 11 starts and Stone has an ERA of 1.90 in that stretch while holding batters to a .205 average. His ERA for the season dropped to 2.73 – fifth in the National League (ahead of Dodgers teammate Tyler Glasnow).
At a time when Yamamoto is out with a rotator cuff strain, Buehler had to step back to re-start his comeback from surgery, Bobby Miller has struggled in his return from injury and veteran Clayton Kershaw’s comeback is on a temporary hold, Stone has stepped up to be “a rock in the rotation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“You can’t say enough about what Stoney has been doing for us – going deep in games, re-setting the bullpen,” Barnes said. “He’s just been quiet, steady, going about his business.”
It was Stone’s first time pitching into the eighth inning in the major leagues and his first time pitching into the ninth since the final start of his college career – a no-hitter for Central Arkansas against Southeastern Louisiana in 2020.
“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.”
The White Sox got just one runner past first base. Gavin Sheets doubled to start the second inning. Stone needed just four more pitches to retire the side and strand Sheets.
“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.”
Stone did the whole thing with a lead thanks to Ohtani’s ongoing spectacular performance. He continued his tear with another leadoff home run Wednesday – his second in as many days and third since moving into the leadoff spot nine games ago after Mookie Betts suffered a fractured hand.
This modest 437-foot drive was Ohtani’s 25th home run of the season, the eighth in his past 10 games and fifth in the past six. It also extended his streak to 10 consecutive games with an RBI, setting a new franchise record.
“There’s been a lot of opportunities with runners on base,” Ohtani said of the RBI record. “All I’m trying to do is have a quality at-bat. I think it’s just the result of that.”
The Dodgers added three runs in the third inning, two on a double by Freddie Freeman who has been enjoying his own June heat wave – a .333 batting average (28 for 84) with six doubles, six home runs, 17 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
“If Shohei wasn’t doing what he’s doing, Freddie would be in the conversation for Player of the Week the last few weeks. But Shohei is on another level right now,” Roberts said.
Teoscar Hernandez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and the Dodgers put the game away in the fourth inning without scoring. Rojas doubled – they are now 24-0 in games when he has a base hit.