Led by Aaron Civale, three Sox pitchers combine for one-hitter in Sox' 1-0 win over Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — That Andrew Vaughn-for-Aaron Civale trade between the Sox and Brewers may not be as lopsided as it first appeared.

Vaughn has been a smash hit in Milwaukee, where the first baseman hit .371 with a 1.157 OPS, six homers and 24 RBI in his first 18 games since the June 13 deal, but the veteran right-hander the Sox received in exchange for Vaughn has been no slouch himself.

Civale gave up just one hit, a fourth-inning dribbler up the third-base line, in 6⅓ scoreless innings Saturday night, striking out eight and walking two, to lead the White Sox to a 1-0 victory against the Angels.

In his last three starts, the 30-year-old native of Windsor, Connecticut, has allowed no earned runs and seven hits in 17⅓ innings in which he has struck out 20 and walked three.

Civale, who is 2-4 with a 3.99 ERA in nine starts with the Sox, retired the first nine batters in Angel Stadium before Zach Neto led off the fourth with a tapper to third, where Brooks Baldwin, the middle-infielder-turned-outfielder, was making his first career start.

Baldwin, who was moved from left field to third after first baseman Miguel Vargas was scratched because of a left oblique strain just before first pitch, charged aggressively and appeared to have a play on the speedy Neto.

But the ball squirted out of Baldwin’s glove on the glove-to-hand exchange, and Neto crossed first base with no throw. Veteran scorekeeper Ed Munson showed no hesitation in ruling the play a hit.

“The whole thing is [Baldwin] is coming in on a slow roller, he’s trying to pick it up and throw sideways, and you have a fast runner,” said Munson, who has been scoring Angels and Dodgers games for 46 years. “Neto probably would have beaten the throw easily, and had [Baldwin] let that ball go, I think it would have gone foul.”

Civale walked Nolan Schanuel to put two on with no outs, but he escaped the jam by striking out Taylor Ward looking at a 94-mph sinker, getting Jo Adell to pop out to shortstop and whiffing Yoan Moncada with a 79-mph curve.

Civale also walked Luis Rengifo with one out in the fifth but retired the next six batters before giving way to left-hander Brandon Eisert with one out in the seventh.

Civale had thrown 94 pitches when he was pulled by manager Will Venable, so even if Neto’s fourth-inning hit had been ruled an error, Civale would have had to have blown by his career-high pitch count of 114 in 2021 to pursue a no-hitter.

Eisert retired five straight batters in the seventh and eighth and Jordan Leasure pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save as the Sox won for the 10th time in 14 games since the All-Star break.

The Sox scored the game’s only run in the second when Luis Robert Jr. singled to center field, stole second — his 29th stolen base of the season — took third on Colson Montgomery’s fly ball to deep center and came home on Kyle Teel’s single to center.