BOSTON — Shane Smith used Friday as the time to take in the “shock and awe factor” of Fenway Park.
“So I could go out (Saturday) and focus on the job I had to do,” said Smith, who was born in Danvers, Mass. “But really cool to be here and throw in the hometown.”
With a large cheering section in attendance, Smith touched 98 mph with his fastball. He allowed three runs but did not factor in the decision as the White Sox lost 4-3 in 10 innings to the Boston Red Sox in front of a sellout crowd of 36,599.
The White Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force extra innings.
But Triston Casas drove in Alex Bregman with a long, high single off the Green Monster with one out in the 10th inning to give the Red Sox the walk-off victory.
It was the sixth straight loss for the White Sox (4-16), who have dropped 14 of 16. They have started the season 0-8 on the road for the first time in franchise history.
“I hope that these guys look at a game like this — we look at some of the things we could have done better, but we look at the things we did well too,” manager Will Venable said. “And that every opportunity we have on the field is an opportunity to analyze and get better. And at the same time, this gives them confidence that they can come in here and play with these guys.
“It was a good game, sucks to lose.”
The afternoon began with an intriguing pitching matchup as Smith squared off for the second time against former White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet.
Smith allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings. He hit three batters.
“I would have liked to have been a little sharper early on,” Smith said. “Outside of the baseball, it’s really cool to be here.”
Smith did not allow a hit until a one-out single to left field by Kristian Campbell in the fourth inning.
The Red Sox took the lead on a three-run home run from Rafael Devers in the fifth. Smith faced two more batters after the home run and exited to a nice ovation.
“Just like every other start, (he was) attacking guys with the fastball, great changeup and the slider was good today too,” Venable said. “Just kind of ran into some good at-bats toward the end of the start, but great outing by him.”
Crochet, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the White Sox on April 13, allowed four hits Saturday while striking out seven and walking two in six scoreless innings.
Chase Meidroth, who broke up Crochet’s previous no-hit bid, had three hits Saturday. He drove in a run with a single against Greg Weissert in the seventh to bring the White Sox within 3-1. Luis Robert Jr. followed with a two-run home run to tie the score.
“This one was important to see the result,” Robert said through an interpreter. “Because you work hard to get results. Sometimes you don’t see results and then you don’t feel good.
“Definitely today was a good day. I feel good getting that homer.”
In the 10th, a pair of walks — the first of which was intentional — from reliever Mike Vasil loaded the bases with one out for Casas. The first baseman hit a 1-0 changeup the other way for the game-ending single.
The White Sox received tough news before the game, placing starter Martín Pérez on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. They were awaiting the results of imaging as of Saturday afternoon.
“We were at the point where we knew that it was at least going to be an IL,” Venable said before the game. “We knew it was bad enough that we needed to get some help here.”
Pérez suffered the injury during Friday’s 10-3 loss to the Red Sox. He exited after the third inning. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA, .197 opponents batting average and 18 strikeouts in four starts.
The Sox called up left-hander Jared Shuster from Triple-A Charlotte.
“Whatever the team needs, whatever helps us win,” Shuster said of his role with the Sox.
Shuster, who is also from Massachusetts, walked one and had one strikeout in 1 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday.
The bullpen as a whole made big pitches to keep the White Sox in the game. But the team remains winless away from Rate Field.
