Davis Martin latest White Sox starting pitcher to excel during road trip

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The White Sox’ starting pitching has been on a roll, and right-hander Davis Martin was no exception in a 6-0 victory Monday against the Angels.

Davis allowed five hits in seven innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters. He was so efficient that his strike-to-ball ratio was 74%, 63 strikes in 85 pitches.

‘‘It was awesome,’’ said Martin, who improved to 5-1 with a 1.64 ERA, with 43 strikeouts and eight walks in 44 innings. ‘‘I was just executing at a high level, getting ahead and attacking the zone, kind of feeling free out there almost.’’

Sox starters allowed only two earned runs in the first four games of this trip, which began with them taking two of three from the Padres last weekend. Those two earned runs were allowed by left-hander Anthony Kay in a three-run fourth inning during the Padres’ 4-3 victory Sunday.

Otherwise, left-hander Noah Schultz and right-hander Sean Burke each pitched six innings of scoreless ball in back-to-back victories Friday and Saturday. They combined to allow six hits and struck out 10.

Entering play Tuesday, Sox starters were fifth among the 30 major-league teams with a 3.53 ERA. Only the Yankees (2.70), Dodgers (2.96), Rays (3.16) and Braves (3.23) were ahead of them. After a slow start to the season, the starters are on an incredible run.

‘‘We’re always trying to get better, pushing each other, seeing what we can do,’’ Martin said. ‘‘Talking pitch grips, talking with the other guys to see what we could do to take the next steps. It’s a growing process. It’s a long season, and you can never be done with growing.’’

Consider that the Sox are doing this with the 26th-ranked player payroll for luxury-tax purposes at $109.5 million. Their payroll for the five-man starting rotation is $9.8 million. The Yankees, by comparison, have $63 million tied up in two starters, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon — both of whom are on the injured list and returning from elbow surgery.

‘‘Hey, you’ve got to find a way,’’ Sox manager Will Venable said before the game Tuesday. ‘‘Yeah, regardless of what your payroll is. That’s what this is about for us. It really doesn’t matter what our payroll is. It doesn’t matter the names we have. We have confidence in everyone in a White Sox jersey and are excited to find a path to victory every day.’’

Consider also that right-hander Shane Smith, their Opening Day starter, washed out after three appearances and was sent down to Triple-A Charlotte, where he made four starts before going on the seven-day minor-league injured list with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. He’s expected to be out at least a few weeks.

No question, it’s a makeshift staff with little big-league experience.

‘‘But they give us a chance to win every night,’’ Venable said. ‘‘As good as Davis has been, it’s other guys, too. They’re just really being effective in the zone. We’ve got catchers who are calling the right pitches and executing the right game plans, and we’re getting good results.’’

It has become a friendly competition among the starters, Martin noted. He, Burke and Kay egg each other on.

‘‘Every single one of us is not above chirping the other person,’’ Martin said. ‘‘I came out of the game after seven, and both Anthony and Sean asked me, ‘What gives? Can’t you go eight?’ There’s never a settling. There’s never a, ‘Great job, you did awesome.’

‘‘That’s not who we are. That’s not the dynamic of this starting rotation.’’