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One was fun: Burke stars as Venable gets 1st win with the White Sox

Sean Burke pitched six sparkling innings and Will Venable got his first win as a big-league manager Thursday, directing the White Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day.

Andrew Benintendi, Lenyn Sosa and Austin Slater homered as Chicago began what it hopes will be a more promising season than a year ago, when it went 41-121 to break the post-1900 major-league record for losses.

Venable, 42, stepped into a challenging rebuilding project when he was hired in October. The former big-league outfielder was an associate manager for Texas the past two years.

Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) pitched six innings of 3-run ball in his Los Angeles debut. The Japanese left-hander signed a $63 million, three-year contract with the Angels in free agency.

Los Angeles lost on Opening Day for the 11th time in the last 12 years, including four in a row.

Burke (1-0) allowed 3 hits, struck out three and walked none. Penn Murfee, Jordan Leasure and Mike Clevinger combined for three scoreless innings before Logan O'Hoppe homered for the Angels against Cam Booser in the ninth.

After Ryan Johnson was hit hard in his big-league debut for the Angels, former Sox infielder Nicky Lopez, a Naperville native, got the final out of the eighth in his first game with Los Angeles.

Key moment

  Andrew Benintendi of the Chicago White Sox, right, is greeted at home plate by Miguel Vargas after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on opening day at Rate Field on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Chicago. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

With Chicago leading 3-0 in the eighth, Clevinger replaced Leasure with runners at the corners and two outs. The right-hander walked Mike Trout before striking out Jorge Soler, ending the inning.

Key stat

Kikuchi is one of a major league-record three Japanese-born pitchers who started on Opening Day this year, joining Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers and Shota Imanaga of the Cubs.

Up next

Following an off day, right-handers José Soriano and Jonathan Cannon take the mound on Saturday. Soriano made 20 starts and two relief appearances for Los Angeles last year, going 6-7 with a 3.42 ERA. Cannon had a 4.49 ERA over 124⅓ innings during his rookie season with Chicago in 2024.

  Lenyn Sosa of the Chicago White Sox, right, is greeted at home plate by Travis Jankowski after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning on opening day at Rate Field on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Chicago. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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