Pitching powers Chicago White Sox's surprising start

Their best starting pitcher, Chris Sale, was traded to Boston in the off-season.

Their second best starting pitcher, Jose Quintana, is 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA.

Their third best starter, Carlos Rodon, hasn't pitched this season due to left biceps bursitis and his return to the rotation remains a mystery.

Rejuvenated starter James Shields, who is 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA, is on the disabled list with a strained lat muscle.

In the bullpen, two of their top setup men, Zach Putnam (elbow) and Jake Petricka (back) are on the DL after they both missed most of the 2016 season with injuries.

From front to back, the Chicago White Sox's pitching staff looks to be in bad shape.

Looks can be deceiving.

With the first month of the season nearly in the books, the Sox (2.93) are the only team in the major leagues with an ERA under 3.00.

Despite all of the injuries, along with Quintana's slow start, unsung pitchers like Miguel Gonzalez (3-0, 2.00 ERA) and Derek Holland (3-2, 2.17) have kept the rotation afloat while Anthony Swarzak (0.00 ERA), Tommy Kahnle (1.00) and Dan Jennings (0.93) have been similarly surprising out of the bullpen.

"Injuries are a part of baseball," said closer David Robertson, who blew his first save try Saturday but recovered in the 10th inning as the White Sox topped the Tigers 6-4 for their sixth straight win. "Obviously, you'd love for all five of your starters to stay healthy and take the ball every turn, but that's not the way baseball is. Same thing in the bullpen. We've been able to adjust and everybody that's come in has been able to do the job."

In April, White Sox pitchers have held the opposition to 2 runs or less 10 times in 22 games.

"They've been doing it all since the beginning of the season," manager Rick Renteria said. "I think their confidence is pretty good. I think for the most part, you have to maintain that confidence even when the results aren't good."

There have been very few bad results for the Sox's staff, and that makes catcher Omar Narvaez happy.

"I'm not surprised because we have a great pitching staff," he said. "Watching all these guys in spring training and seeing what they can do, I love it. I love catching these guys."

Renteria has told his pitchers to worry about one thing only - getting outs. They've obviously been listening.

"We try to keep it like the score is 0-0, no matter what," Narvaez said. "Get out there and make smart pitches, be on the same page."

From a physical standpoint, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Gonzalez doesn't measure up. But the Orioles' castoff has been showing his smarts all season and he'll be on the mound Sunday as the White Sox shoot for the sweep against Detroit.

In his last start, against Kansas City Monday, Gonzalez pitched 8 innings and allowed 1 unearned run on 2 hits.

"He has four good pitches that he can throw any time for strikes," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "He wasn't using his curveball as much, but he had that slider or cutter working good both ways. Obviously, his split-finger is really good. He pitched a really good game."

Pitch perfect

Pitch perfect

A look at the White Sox's pitching staff and where they rank among major-league leaders. (Through Friday):

<b>First</b>Overall ERA: 2.93

Bullpen ERA: 1.83

Batting average against: .215

<b>Third</b>OBP: .298

<b>Fourth</b>WHIP: 1.19

OPS: .677