Robert hits an early home run and 5 pitchers lead the White Sox to a 1-0 victory over Chris Sale and the Braves

CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. hit a home run in the first inning and five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter as the White Sox beat Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves 1-0 on Thursday.

Sale (10-3) had a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings against his original team. The 35-year-old left-hander allowed four hits and one walk in his fourth straight solid start, and was only touched when Robert hit his eighth home run on a low inside slider.

“I threw sliders. He hit sliders and put a good swing on them,” Sale said. “It’s not too often that a solo home run in the first inning wins a game, but it does happen.”

Chicago ended a four-game losing streak and won for just the second time in nine games. The White Sox have the worst record in the major leagues at 22-61.

Atlanta has lost two games in a row and three of four games.

After a rainout on April 3, Robert entered the game with a batting average of just .190, but ended an 11-game home run drought. He hit 38 home runs and 80 RBIs during his 2023 All-Star season, but missed nearly two months this year due to a strained right hip flexor sustained on April 5 in Kansas City.

Robert said through a translator that he may have only faced Sale twice before, but the speedy center fielder guessed correctly on Thursday, raising his batting average to .204 with two hits.

“I’m not where I want to be with my offense,” Robert said. “I’m still working on that. I think I’ve been better at selecting my shots the last few games, even though the referees have ruled some shots out of the zone.”

Chad Kuhl made his first start for the White Sox and his first in the major leagues since April 2023 with Pittsburgh. He threw three-plus innings and allowed just one hit, a double by Ozzie Albies to start the fourth inning.

The 31-year-old right-hander was taken off the field after throwing 49 pitches. He threw 99 over 4 1/3 innings as a relief pitcher in Detroit on Sunday, allowing two runs and six hits.

“I was definitely at the end,” said Kuhl. “I don’t know how I did today, but I’m super grateful.”

“We talked openly and honestly about how I was feeling and they got me out of there at the right time.”

Jarred Shuster (1-0), the White Sox’s second reliever, pitched three innings to earn the win. Michael Kopech worked around an error in the ninth inning to earn his sixth save in ten chances.

Kuhl signed as a free agent with Chicago in the offseason and was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte two weeks ago.

Sale spent his first seven seasons with the White Sox. He was an All-Star for seven consecutive years through 2018 – five with Chicago and two with Boston – then struggled with injuries before the Red Sox traded him to Atlanta last offseason.

Robert threw the first pitch he saw from Sale down the left field line into the White Sox bullpen.

Albies opened the fourth with a double against Kuhl. Justin Anderson relieved Marcell Ozuna and walked him, then retired the next three Braves batters.

John Brebbia singled and walked with one out in the eighth inning. Albies singled out and Ozuna was replaced with a fly to the wall in right.

TRAINING ROOM

Braves: SS Orlando Arcia (dizziness) returned to the lineup after leaving Monday’s game in St. Louis in the sixth inning and then missing Tuesday’s doubleheader.

White Sox: OF Gavin Sheets sat out and has to live day to day with a left heel injury sustained in Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to the Dodgers.

NEXT

Braves: RHP Charlie Morton (4-4, 4.20 ERA) faces Pittsburgh LHP Martín Pérez (1-3, 4.71) on Friday night in Atlanta.

White Sox: Rookie RHP Drew Thorpe (1-1, 5.02 ERA) makes his fourth career start at home on Friday night against Colorado RHP Dakota Hudson (2-10, 5.63).

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Chad Kuhl’s age has been corrected in this story.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Matt Carlson, The Associated Press