'Tough way to come back' for Kopech, White Sox in 9-0 loss

The White Sox were set up for a perfect storm of their own Friday night in Atlanta.

First, they were opening the second half of the season on the road against the Braves, baseball's best team.

Second, Michael Kopech came off the injured list before the game and he figured to be rusty after having last started on June 27.

The dark clouds came together early as the Sox picked up where they left off at the All-Star break.

In a 9-0 loss to Atlanta at Truist Park, Kopech couldn't locate his fastball and was unable to make it out of the first inning.

Touki Toussaint did a nice job bailing out Kopech with 5⅓ innings of strong relief, but the White Sox's bats were silent again.

While Atlanta upped its record to 61-29, the Sox dropped to 38-55 after losing for the eighth time in 10 games.

Saying his sore right shoulder was feeling good after the extended layoff, Kopech walked the first Braves hitter he faced, Ronald Acuna Jr. He hit the next one, Ozzie Albies. He walked the next one, Austin Riley.

That loaded the bases, and Matt Olson cleared them, hitting Kopech's 1-0 fastball deep to right center for a grand slam.

"If there's a positive, I felt physically good," Kopech told reporters. "Just erratic. That's a tough way to come back."

After Olson put Atlanta in front 4-0, Kopech faced four more batters, walking two of them.

The right-hander was lifted with two outs in the first inning after giving up 4 runs on 1 hit and 4 walks along with the hit batter.

"He threw his bullpens, he was ready to pitch," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He just couldn't find his command. He felt good, he was strong. It's just fine-tuning his mechanics and get back to work with (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz)."

Over his last four starts, Kopech has pitched 13 innings and issued 20 walks. The shoulder discomfort did play a part in the shocking wildness, but Kopech has a lot of work to do.

"I'm sure there's some things I need to clean up," he said. "Right now, I wasn't executing. I wasn't consistent."

As the Braves added 4 more runs in the seventh inning against reliever Bryan Shaw, the Sox's offense managed only 5 singles against Atlanta starter Charlie Morton and two relievers.

Andrew Vaughn was 2-for-3 and Tim Anderson was 2-for-4.