White Sox Manager Explains Accidentally Forcing Starter Noah Schultz From Game After 23 Pitches

Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable took the blame for the extra mound visit that required his club remove rookie pitcher Noah Schultz from Saturday's start against the Cleveland Guardians.

Schultz had faced five batters and thrown 25 pitches when Venable made a mound visit shortly after the same move had been taken by pitching coach Zach Bove.

MLB rules dictate pitchers must be automatically removed from a game after multiple mound visits in the same frame. David Sandlin was called in after Schultz's exit to pitch 5 1/3 innings in relief.

"That was a mistake by me," Venable told Chicago Sports Network's Brooke Fletcher during the game. "Lost track of the first visit, there. Went out to go execute an appeal, and just missed that."

Venable added after the White Sox's 8-2 loss, per MLB.com's Scott Merkin: "Just an inexcusable mistake by me where we had an appeal play that we wanted to execute, and in the urgency of trying to make that happen, just totally lost that we had visited."

Schultz loaded the bases in the first inning on a hit-by-pitch on the Guardians' Jo Adell, at which point Bove visited the mound.

Bove's visit lasted less than 10 seconds in the immediate aftermath of the hit-by-pitch, per WGN TV's Josh Frydman.

Ángel Martínez hit a two-RBI single two pitches later, at which point Venable approached the mound and accidentally triggered Schultz's exit from the game.

The White Sox had limited options after following starter Luis Castillo with seven relievers in Thursday's 13-inning loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Sandlin had not yet thrown a warmup pitch by the time he was called in Friday to relieve Schultz, per Merkin.

Sandlin was called up from Triple-A Charlotte ahead of Friday's game, while Schultz has been with the White Sox since July 1.

The White Sox are gaining some pitching help after calling up prospects Tanner McDougal and Hagen Smith, as reported by Future Sox's Ian Eskridge and confirmed by Merkin.

Schultz and Sandlin are expected to be optioned to Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move, per Future Sox's James Fox.

Venable will hope he can work McDougal and Smith into his pitching corps while looking to snap a four-game losing streak. The White Sox are heading into Saturday still on track for a postseason berth thanks to an AL Central-leading 59-56 record.