CHICAGO (AP) — Matt Davidson had his first career triple and first home run as a member of the Chicago White Sox in an 11-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
Geovany Soto, the catcher who joined the White Sox as a free agent this offseason, added his first two home runs for Chicago to help give Rick Renteria his first victory as the team’s manager.
James Shields (1-0) threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and striking out five. It was a positive start following a rough season last year after Chicago acquired the right-hander in a trade with San Diego. He went 4-12 with a 6.77 ERA.
Shields allowed Tyler Collins’ solo homer in the second inning to open the scoring, but the Tigers managed only four hits.
The Chicago output escalated from two runs in the second inning, to three in the third and four in the fourth in sunny conditions after rain washed out two starts between the teams this week.
Soto’s three-run home run in the third made it 5-1 and chased left-hander Matthew Boyd (0-1).
Anibal Sanchez struggled in relief, also giving up five runs. Sanchez gave up Davidson’s blast to left-center field in the fourth inning for a 9-1 lead.
Dan Jennings, Michael Ynoa and Tommy Kahnle combined for 3 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two hits and an unearned run.
Alex Avila had an RBI double in the eighth inning in his first at-bat back with the Tigers after playing with the White Sox last season.
