When Shields talks, young White Sox pitchers listen

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James Shields will get the ball on Day 1 for the White Sox. (AP)

James Shields hasn’t performed like the pitcher the White Sox hoped they were getting when they traded for him last season — although he is stepping up his game of late — but inside the clubhouse, no one commands more admiration and respect.

It’s not only because of Shields’ longevity and accomplished 12-year career, but also for his unbridled willingness to share what he has learned about pitching with young Sox pitchers.

“He has the most time on the team, and with the career and success he’s had, he’s a good guy to tap into,’’ rookie right-hander Dylan Covey said. “If you ask him anything, he’ll open up.’’

Shields likes the mentoring element of his job description and is a testament to knowing you can never stop learning, tweaking and adjusting. Midway through his start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Aug. 5, the 35-year-old right-hander began lowering his arm slot to nearly three-quarters sidearm, and the results were good.

Three starts later, he was doing the same thing against the Twins in the Sox’ 4-3 victory Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field, retiring the first 11 batters he faced and picking up a quality start with six innings of three-run, three-hit ball with six strikeouts and two walks.

Tim Anderson singled to drive in Avisail Garcia with the winning run in the ninth inning.

Shields is two-thirds of an inning short of having four consecutive quality starts, so he might be on to something that can whittle his 5.63 ERA with a little more than a month to go in the season.

“It’s working out pretty well right now; all my pitches are working pretty well,’’ Shields said. “I’m getting a lot of ground balls, which is where I need to be.’’

In the meantime, Shields will continue to talk pitching in the dugout, in the clubhouse, on team flights, anywhere. While the Sox were playing the Angels in Anaheim, California, in mid-May, he sat down in the visitors’ clubhouse with Covey, pen and paper in hand.

“He drew diagrams of the mound, the plate,’’ Covey said. “He’d draw a line of the pitch and say, ‘The hitter sees this out of your hand and this movement; what’s the next pitch you would throw?’ I’d be ‘this,’ and he was like, ‘No, because the hitter saw this with that movement.’

“Just talking with him about aspects of pitching I hadn’t thought of before. How hitters see the ball in lanes, what pitches to throw after certain reactions. . . . Pitching is all about tricking hitters, so I’ve been learning a lot from him.’’

A Rule 5 pick, Covey has struggled, which is all the more reason he appreciates the help from a veteran voice.

“He’s been awesome,’’ Covey said.

Shields got a no-decision but watched a fun finish for a paid crowd of 15,605 on Anderson’s first career walk-off hit against Trevor Hildenberger. Garcia singled and was bunted to second by Kevan Smith. Anderson came through after Yolmer Sanchez was walked intentionally.

“I wanted that moment,’’ said Anderson, who went 1-for-4. “I put the first three at-bats behind me and came up big.’’

The Sox gave Shields a 1-0 lead when Alen Hanson tripled against Ervin Santana and continued all the way home on an error in the third inning. Jorge Polanco tied it with his fourth homer of the series, and the Twins got two more against Shields in the sixth on Polanco’s RBI single and a wild pitch.

Center fielder Leury Garcia made an outstanding running catch, hit his ninth homer in the sixth to make it 3-2 and doubled and scored on Yoan Moncada’s double in the eighth to tie it.

“We’re in last place, but we’re still grinding this thing out,’’ Shields said. “We’re still having fun right now on the field, and the sky’s the limit for these guys. They’re coming into their own.’’

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

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