Over 36,000 were on hand Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field, as former Redbird and current Chicago White Sox member Neal Cotts picked up his first big league win.
In only his third major league start, Cotts lasted 5 innings against the Texas Rangers. The left-hander from Lebanon, Ill., scattered five hits over his five-plus innings, allowing only one run and five walks. Cotts also struck out three Rangers.
Cotts was impressive out of the gate, as he sat down the Rangers 1-2-3 in the top of the first, including a strikeout of perennial all-star Alex Rodriguez to end the inning. He never allowed more than one hit in an inning until the fifth, when Rodriguez followed Marcus Thames single with a RBI double to deep right. Cotts then struck out Rafael Palmeiro to end the inning.
Shane Spencer singled off Cotts to start the top of the sixth. Cotts then walked Mark Teixeira, which would be his final batter of the night, as Sox skipper Jerry Manuel brought in Scott Sullivan to get out of the sixth.
Friday night's game may have been one of the bigger starts Cotts has made in his young career. His Chicago club began the night one-half game ahead of Minnesota and one game up on Kansas City in the tightly packed AL Central. With the win, the Sox ended the night with a one game lead over Kansas City and a one-and-a-half game lead over Minnesota.
As a Redbird, Cotts went 18-9 in his three seasons, with an overall ERA of 3.58. During that time, he also notched 263 strikeouts, which ranks him fifth all-time in school history.
Cotts was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of 2001 with the 69th pick, becoming the highest drafted Redbird in history. In December of 2002, Cotts was dealt to Chicago in a deal that Billy Koch to Chicago.
