CHICAGO – After loud music and cheers were heard from the clubhouse, White Sox manager Will Venable emerged for his postgame press conference with a big smile and a soaked sweatshirt.

The first-year manager needed just one game to pick up his first win, an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day at Rate Field that put the White Sox over .500 for the first time since March 30, 2023 – Opening Day two seasons ago.

“A little Gatorade shower from the boys, which was awesome,” Venable said. “So yeah, I’m soaked. They were excited. Obviously a great way to start the season, and they were very supportive of me getting my first win, so it was a good atmosphere.”

“This is a new season and a clean slate, and we’re excited to get off to a good start. These guys have put in a lot of work in the offseason and obviously in spring training, so for that to end in a win to start the season means a lot to us.”

Designated hitter Andrew Benintendi was one of three White Sox to hit a home run Thursday, sandwiched between right fielder Austin Slater and second baseman Lenyn Sosa. Third baseman Miguel Vargas also drove in two runs on a blooper that found no-man’s land in shallow center field in the second inning. Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi allowed three runs in six innings, and the White Sox racked up five runs off of Angels reliever Ryan Johnson.

Benintendi was part of the White Sox 41-121 season in 2024, but he and his teammates are turning the page to 2025 and bringing the good vibes, along with the 31,403 fans in attendance for Opening Day.

“It was great,” Benintendi said of the postgame celebration. “Music was bumping. We got Will in the showers, so it’s a good way to start.”

In just his fourth major league start and first on Opening Day, right-hander Sean Burke pitched six scoreless innings. He ran into a bit of trouble in the first, giving up a leadoff double to Taylor Ward and hitting Mike Trout, but he retired 14 straight batters to end his outing.

“I think just settling in,” Burke said. “Not so much nerves, but kind of just a little amped up to start the game. So just making sure I’m making quality pitches. I think the defense played really good behind me. They were making plays the entire time I was out there. So when they’re kind of in a rhythm like that. it makes my job a lot easier.”

Burke allowed three hits while striking out three batters and walking zero. He had three- and five-inning shutouts last season, but Thursday marked his longest outing with zero earned runs.

“It was awesome,” Burke said. “I think that’s the most fun I’ve ever had pitching in front of these fans at home. That first inning after I struck out [Tim Anderson], that was just the craziest high of emotion with the fans cheering and everything. So it was awesome. I couldn’t have dreamt it up any better.”

Venable thought Burke showed a lot of poise and was under control while also finding another gear as he maneuvered the early innings with runners on base.

“Sean was great,” Venable said. “I think it really started with the fans showing up and bringing the energy. Sean responds to that, all the guys respond to that. Sean was amazing, obviously worked through some trouble early, and then the slider was really working for him.”

Mike Clevinger replaced Jordan Leasure during the eighth inning after Leasure allowed a single and a walk. Clevinger walked Trout in the first at-bat to load the bases, but he struck out Jorge Soler, who had a chance to give the Angels the lead with a grand slam.

“That was huge,” Venable said of Clevinger. We talked about those situations and who we want out there for that, and Mike’s the guy, right. He handles those situations well, and the test came early for him. That was obviously a big moment for him, and to see him get out of it was nice to see.”

Clevinger was a starter for most of his career with Cleveland and San Diego, and he started 28 games for the White Sox across the 2023 and 2024 seasons. But at this stage of his career, he’s in line for high-leverage innings with the White Sox.

“I think that’s fair that you’ll see [Clevinger] there in the back end,” Venable said. “We also want to have the flexibility to know that that moment might come earlier in the game than the ninth inning, and we’ll be mixing and matching. You saw [Cam Booser] today and what he can do too. We have a lot of guys that we trust in the back end. But yeah, Clev is gonna be the guy.”

For Venable, there weren’t many negative aspects of the game pick apart on Opening Day. He thought the White Sox played good defense, gave quality at-bats and liked that the pitchers walked just two batters.

It was a good way to start off his career as a manager and a step in the right direction for the White Sox.

“It feels great,” Venable said. “We know that the work obviously keeps going here and this is just the first one, but nice to get that one and it feels good.”