Burke stars as Venable gets 1st win with the White Sox in an 8-1 victory over the Angels

By: Jay Cohen, The Associated Press Posted: 5:48 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025

CHICAGO (AP) — Sean Burke pitched six sparkling innings and Will Venable got his first win as a big league manager Thursday, directing the Chicago White Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on opening day.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2025 (226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Sean Burke throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of an opening-day baseball game in Chicago, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) pitched six innings of three-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 three 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, infielder Nicky Lopez got the final out of the eighth in his first game with Los Angeles.

Key moment

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 124 1/3 innings during his rookie season with Chicago in 2024.

___

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