Sox fans show up for Schultz, get stuck with extra-inning loss

The White Sox drew an announced crowd of 35,174 to Rate Field for Noah Schultz' third major-league start on Saturday.

It was more than they had for this year’s home opener and the largest April non-opener crowd at The Rate since 2007.

A BBQ pub crawl promotion brought a slew of early arrivals, but this attendance figure seemed to suggest fans are starting to feel good about the White Sox again, at long last.

Of course, all those throats in the seats can boo as well as cheer. Fans let reliever Jordan Leasure hear it after he allowed 4 runs in the 10th inning, and the Sox lost to Washington 6-3. Maybe rain checks are in order.

Schultz, the 6-foot-10 lefty from Oswego, delivered another solid performance. He completed 6 innings on 85 pitches, with a season-high 8 strikeouts and 4 hits. The only issue was four walks, including two leading off the fourth inning that both came around to score.

“A lot of things I wish I improved on today,” Schultz said. “I wish I threw a couple more change-ups. Something, obviously, to work on for next week. Being able to use all five pitches the way I want definitely (is a goal).”

A couple of interesting items from StatCast — Schultz' velocity has dropped quite a bit in his three starts. In his MLB debut on April 14, the average fastball velo was 97.2 mph. In Start 2 against the Athletics, it was 95.8 mph, on Saturday, 94.2.

He was still effective, getting 10 swings and misses, mostly on the fastball, the same number he had against the A's. The pitch mix has changed with every start, a sign he carries a variety of weapons.

In the first Schultz start against the Rays, the sweeper was his second most-used pitch. Against the A's, he was much heavier with the four-seam. Then in this one, the cutter was his secondary pitch. He threw three sliders against the Nats after not using that pitch in the first two starts.

“(The slider) felt a lot better, definitely something we worked on this week,” he said. “Happy to see it play a little bit better. A lot of it was an eyesight thing, just where I'm starting to throw it instead of looking at where I'm ending it.”

Through the three starts, Schultz has a 3.52 ERA, with 18 strikeouts and 9 walks in 15⅓ innings.

“He just looks more and more comfortable,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “He's got a lot of weapons, a lot of different ways to get guys out. He's in tune with his stuff. When one thing's not working, he's able to pivot and find different ways to attack hitters.”

With the big crowd behind them, the White Sox couldn't build on this stretch of five wins in seven games. They couldn't do much against Washington starter Jake Irvin, then put some pressure on the Nats bullpen. Finally in the eighth inning, they broke through with 2 runs on an Everson Pereira RBI single and Chase Meidroth sacrifice fly.

Reliever Grant Taylor cruised through the ninth inning, but Leasure had problems in the 10th. Washington scored 4 runs, on a passed ball, bases-loaded walk and 2-run single.

In an attempt to find more offense from the catchers spot, the White Sox called up Drew Romo from Charlotte, while Reese McGuire was designated for assignment. McGuire hit .172 in 29 at-bats this season.

Romo entered Saturday's game in the eighth inning after Edgar Quero was lifted for a pinch-hitter. Romo walked in his lone at-bat and was charged with the passed ball in the 10th.

Heading into Saturday's action, the White Sox had the worst offensive catcher production in MLB, a .153 average with no home runs. The team is eager to get Kyle Teel back from a hamstring strain suffered in the World Baseball Classic, but he was still sitting in the clubhouse Saturday, waiting to be cleared for a rehab assignment.

Romo has previous MLB experience, logging 19 games for the Rockies in 2024 and '25. During the winter, the former first-round draft pick (No. 35 overall in 2020) was claimed off waivers three times, moving from the Orioles to the Mets to the White Sox. Romo was hitting .298 with 3 home runs at Charlotte.

Right-handed pitcher Tyler Davis made his major-league debut in this game, striking out two in the eighth inning.