Well, they did get one runner to second.

The White Sox followed up their big inning last night by only making three outs with a runner in scoring position this afternoon. Of course, that’s because they only had one runner in scoring position the whole game, but take your moral victories where ye may.

Shane Smith did his part to keep the Sox in the game with five scoreless innings, and since there’s no other highlight worth showing, let’s watch him K some folks, five of ‘em all told:

Smith gave up just two hits and walked three in five innings, but, as he is wont to do, he threw a whole bunch of pitches — 92, of which 56 were strikes — so his day ended early as usual.

When Smith left, Will Venable brought in Martin Pérez, making his first appearance since going on the 60-day IL in April with a flexor strain, which it was feared would end the 34-year-old’s career. Instead, he’s back in action far earlier than expected, though perhaps one inning too soon. Pérez immediately gave up a single, double, walk, and sac fly in the sixth, but then held the damage to one run and followed up with two strong frames.

That would have been terrific, except for the small problem of the White Sox offense. Tiger rookie Troy Mellon, making his third big league start, plowed through five innings, allowing one baserunner, that a leadoff double by Luis Robert Jr. in the fifth, which was quickly followed by Andrew Benintendi, Miguel Vargas, and Edgar Quero striding to the plate, then, three strikes later, striding back to the dugout.

The South Siders would only manage a Curtis Mead single the rest of the way, and that was quickly followed by a double play. Andrew Benintendi did work a leadoff walk in the eighth, but that was about as exciting as the offense managed to get.

Well, at least the game only lasted 2:19.

Tie-in to a legendary accomplishment: Mellon and three relievers managed to pull off a Maddux — nine shutout innings on fewer than 100 pitches, namely 98. And for an efficiency note, Mellon threw first pitch strikes to 15 of the 16 batters he faced, including the first 14. The Sox pitching staff may want to take notes on that.

Chicago is now 44-77, though .500 since the All-Star break, on pace for 103 losses. They get the day off tomorrow, then head to Kansas City, where the weather will be hot whether or not their bats are.