Kopech strikes out 8, White Sox shut out Dodgers for third straight win

At Tampa Bay last Friday, the White Sox fell to the Rays and the season appeared to sinking.

The loss ran their streak to four games, dropped their record to 23-27 and left them in third place in the AL Central.

Any attempts by Sox general manager Rick Hahn to divert his attention from the slide were unsuccessful.

"It's published in the paper every day, where our team's at, so I get a pretty objective measure," Hahn said Tuesday. "I feel like we've endured what will hopefully be our toughest part of the schedule, certainly from an opponent standpoint, but more importantly from a manpower standpoint where we have been, 'Who's been available?' We expect that to improve here over the coming weeks."

The White Sox ended the losing streak with wins over Tampa Bay Saturday and Sunday, so they carried some much-needed confidence into Tuesday night's game against the Dodgers - another quality opponent.

Behind starting pitcher Michael Kopech and one big inning of offense, the Sox beat Los Angeles 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"Obviously, there have been some stretches that have been pretty disappointing, ruts that, on the positive side, we've been able to pull ourselves out of," Hahn said. "But on the negative, you don't ever want to endure. I think right now in that clubhouse and that coaches' room, there's a lot of optimism and excitement to get some of these guys back and build on some of the momentum from this past weekend."

Still missing key players like Tim Anderson (groin), Lance Lynn (knee), Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) and Joe Kelly (hamstring), the White Sox have two more games against the Dodgers before transitioning into a much smoother stretch of schedule.

In the first of three against Los Angeles, Kopech allowed only 1 hit and had 8 strikeouts over 6 innings.

"I felt good in the first (inning) and I think I was able to carry that throughout the start," Kopech said after improving his record to 2-2 and lowering his ERA to 1.94. "I wasn't sure how I was going to feel in the first because I didn't feel great in the bullpen. There was really no correlation there. I'm sure you've heard that 100 times. I felt good after the first and I tried to carry that."

After getting nothing in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out - Dodgers starter Mitch White struck out Reese McGuire and Josh Harrison to escape trouble - the White Sox came through in the sixth.

With two outs, former Dodger AJ Pollock broke the scoreless tie as a pinch-hitter with a 2-run double, Jake Burger followed with another double to bring home a run and McGuire added an RBI single.

"Nothing was going on for a while," Pollock said. "The pitching was great. We did a good job of staying patient, staying calm and got some guys on and we were able to get some hits."