Chicago White Sox vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Box Score, Summary, and Team Stats – April 22, 2026 Gametracker

When left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez struck out the United States’ Byron Buxton with a two-strike changeup within the championship recreation of the World Baseball Classic, the Arizona Diamondbacks got here to consideration.

“I thought, ‘Well, we got it,'” stated Arizona supervisor Torey Lovullo, who was texting with D-backs pitching coach Rick Kaplan throughout the recreation. “We’ve got to find that pitch for him.

“Make him preserve throwing it.”

He has. Rodriguez (1-0, 1.96 ERA) gave up one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings to assist Venezuela to the WBC title on March 17, and the changeup has develop into a higher a part of his repertoire this season.

Rodriguez, who’s 5-0 in his profession towards the Chicago White Sox, is to face Sox left-hander Anthony Kay (1-0, 2.60) within the second contest of a 3-recreation collection in Phoenix on Wednesday.

The White Sox clubbed 4 homers, together with Munetaka Murakami’s ninth of the season and fourth in as many video games, in an 11-5 victory Tuesday. They have 11 homers within the final three video games and have gained three of 4.

“He makes the adjustments that he needs to,” White Sox supervisor Will Venable stated of Murakami. “Obviously, he’s having a lot of success. We’re seeing really good plate discipline. Obviously, the power is incredible. He’s a guy that is getting more and more comfortable every day.”

Rodriguez’s unenviable process is to sluggish Murakami down.

Rodriguez has thrown the changeup about 34% of the time in his first 4 begins, virtually double his utilization fee that in his earlier 9 seasons, in accordance with Fangraphs. He has additionally thrown extra curveballs, a pitch he developed final season, whereas chopping again on the fastball.

“It’s not really the changeup,” Rodriguez stated. “It’s how I get to the changeup. Sometimes I use it more because that’s what the games tell me to do. It’s more about executing all the pitches. It’s about the mix.”

Rodriguez didn’t surrender an earned run in his first two begins and gained his third outing earlier than receiving a no-determination the final day trip, when he gave up a season-excessive 4 runs in 5 innings of an 8-5, 10-inning Arizona victory at Baltimore.

“The pitch for me that’s making a big difference is the changeup,” Lovullo stated. “He came back with an eagerness to throw it. He’s getting a lot of real good weak contact or swing and miss.

“He’s obtained an excellent really feel for the baseball. Better than anyone I’ve seen, he and Merrill (Kelly) can throw it the place they need to and on the velocity they’re in search of. The change has allowed him to be a pitcher.”

Rodriguez last faced the White Sox on June 23, 2025, when he threw six scoreless innings and struck out 10 in for a 10-0 victory. It was his 11th career starting against them.

Kay picked up his only victory of the season with 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 decision at Kansas City on April 9, his second start.

The win broke the White Sox’s three-game losing streak and an even longer streak for Kay, whose last major league victory was June 24, 2021, when he threw five scoreless innings in Toronto’s 5-0 decision over Baltimore.

Kay spent the 2024-25 seasons with Yokohama of the Japan’s Central League.

Like Rodriguez, Kay uses a changeup in a fastball-slider mix.

“The story for him is absolutely the off-velocity stuff within the zone,” Venable said.

–Field Level Media