WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 Bullpen hangs on after Shields baffles O's Right-hander dominates for first road win since Opening Day By Scott Merkin / MLB.com / September 14, 2018 Back on March 29, James Shields picked up the victory for the White Sox in their season opener against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. All was right with the world for the South Siders at that time. That contest also happened to mark the veteran hurler's last road win until Friday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, where the White Sox held on for an 8-6 victory over the Orioles. View Full Game Coverage Shields was steady as usual, allowing two Trey Mancini solo homers over six innings, while striking out five and walking one. He pitched at least six innings for the 24th time in 2018 and ended a stretch of 12 straight appearances (11 starts) on the road without a victory. • With calf improving, Davidson available vs. O's "This year's been kind of a struggle getting the [wins]," Shields told reporters after improving to 7-16. "I've thrown a lot of quality starts this year, and unfortunately, it just hasn't gone my way. The guys are grinding for me. There's no doubt about that. Tonight was a great night, and I'm glad I could do my part." "James gave us another quality start," White Sox manager Rick Renteria told reporters. "I still think he wanted to go back out, especially with a five-run lead. I know he didn't want to come out, but I thought it was the right time. It was a good victory for him." The White Sox built up a five-run lead behind home runs from Avisail Garcia and Omar Narvaez and three hits from Yoan Moncada. But the Orioles scored four in the seventh to creep within one. Jace Fry and Nate Jones finished off the White Sox second straight victory, and their second victory in four games on this nine-game road trip. Jones picked up his single-season career-best fifth save, and his first since May 22, also against Baltimore. Jones was out from June 13 to Sept. 10 with a pronator strain. "They kept chipping away," Renteria said. "I guess it wasn't the cleanest game, but it was nonetheless a good effort by everybody, just to keep playing and try to get it done." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Cordell gets No. 1: After the Orioles cut the White Sox lead to one in the seventh, Ryan Cordell gave Fry a little more room for error in the eighth with his first career home run in the top half of the frame, which also was his first career hit. Cordell connected on a 3-1 fastball from Tanner Scott to raise the margin to 8-6. The drive had a 107-mph exit velocity and traveled 419 feet per Statcast™. "It was pretty cool, definitely after that tough bottom half of the seventh inning, to come out and get a little momentum back in our favor was pretty big," said Cordell, who got the ball back from the fan who retrieved it and told reporters he will give the ball to his parents. The fan received a bat and a ball in return. "I was probably pressing a little bit to get that first one," Cordell added. "Took quite a few ABs, but glad it's out of the way, but we just go from here." Near miss: Adam Jones almost changed the outcome of this game with one swing of the bat in the Orioles' big seventh. But his drive to the short porch in right with the bases loaded and one out was caught by Garcia with a half-leap against the wall. It scored one on a sacrifice fly instead of four on a grand slam. HE SAID IT "It was tough conditions out there today. It was really misty, so the mound was really wet. Overall, pretty good game." -- Shields UP NEXT Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez is scheduled to make his 30th start of the season, 16th on the road and first vs. Baltimore, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT Saturday night. Yefry Ramirez gets the start for the Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Lopez has received a no-decision in seven of his last eight starts, with the lone win coming against the Yankees in a seven-inning, one-run outing. With calf improving, Davidson available vs. O's By Jeff Seidel / MLB.com / September 14, 2018 BALTIMORE -- Matt Davidson's sore left calf, which kept him out of the past three games, has improved and he will be available to play against Baltimore this weekend. He did not start Friday's series opener at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but White Sox manager Rick Renteria said he can play if needed. "Today's better; he's doing good," Renteria said. "He's available now. If the situation arises, and we think we can use him, we'll use him." View Full Game Coverage Davidson has a .310 average with two homers and eight RBIs in his past 12 games. The White Sox dropped two of three in Kansas City. Davidson banged out his second-career walk-off homer earlier this month (Sept. 3) against the Tigers. His first walk-off came on July 30, 2017, against the Indians. Notes • The White Sox need to win six of their last 16 games to avoid losing 100 games for the fourth time in franchise history. • Jose Abreu is just three homers away from becoming the ninth player in Major League history to hit at least 25 homers in each of his first five seasons. Abreu heads into this series with 22 homers and 78 RBIs, along with a .270 average. • The White Sox are 0-7-2 in their last nine series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Chicago last won a series in Baltimore in 2008. White Sox hold off Orioles 8-6, give James Shields his 1st road win since opening day By Todd Kaporvich / Chicago Tribune / September 14, 2018 James Shields has dealt with some tough luck this season. On a soggy Friday night, the pitcher nicknamed “Big Game James” turned in a solid start for the White Sox and was rewarded with some run support. Shields picked up his first road victory since opening day in an 8-6 win over the Orioles. “This year’s been kind of a struggle getting the (wins),” said Shields, who has gone at least six innings in 22 of his last 27 starts. “I’ve thrown a lot of quality starts this year and unfortunately it just hasn’t gone my way. The guys are grinding for me. There’s no doubt about that. I know that every guy in this clubhouse wants to score a bunch of runs for me.” Ryan Cordell earned his first career hit over 15 at-bats with an eighth-inning homer that provided an insurance run. Omar Narvaez and Avisail Garcia also homered for the Sox, who won for the second time in nine games. “I was probably pressing to get that first one,” Cordell said. “It took quite a few ABs.” Shields (7-16), who leads the majors in losses, allowed two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk over six innings. Shields had gone winless in his 12 previous road appearances. Left-hander Aaron Bummer relieved Shields in the seventh and loaded the bases. Ian Hamilton entered with one out and allowed a two-run single to pinch-hitter Corban Joseph that pulled Baltimore within 7-4. A fielding error by second baseman Yoan Moncada allowed another run to score before Adam Jones hit a sacrifice fly. Jace Fry contained the Orioles with a scoreless eighth, setting up Nate Jones to pick up his fifth save and first since May 22 in his second appearance since coming off the disabled list. Luis Ortiz (0-1), obtained in the trade that sent Jonathan Schoop to the Brewers on July 31, made his first major-league start and threw 1 2/3 innings before leaving with a hamstring injury. He allowed three runs, one earned, and four hits with a walk. “I wish he could have stayed out there and continued to pitch,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s got late life and a good, sharp slider. He’s got a chance to be pretty good.” Trey Mancini hit a pair of homers and has 23 on the season for the majors-worst Orioles, who lost their 105th game. “We all want to go out every day and do well for the team first, and then on a personal level you want to go out and get results that you worked hard for,” Mancini said. “We got 15 games left, and hopefully we can keep putting good at-bats together.” The Sox got on the board in the first on a two-out RBI single by Daniel Palka. A triple by Nicky Delmonico and an infield single by Moncada increased the lead to 3-0, and Ortiz left a batter later. Moncada finished with three hits. Mancini hit a solo shot in the second off Shields, who has allowed 31 homers, second in the majors behind the Orioles' Dylan Bundy. Narvaez answered in third with a two-run shot off Jimmy Yacabonis. Mancini hit another solo homer in the fourth that pulled the Orioles within 5-2.