CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox are monitoring Shane Smith's workload going into the last part of the season.
Smith pitched three innings in Friday's 4-2 loss to Cleveland in the opener of a split doubleheader. Manager Will Venable said the abbreviated start was planned.
“As we try to find ways to navigate the season with him, just thought a shorter outing was appropriate today,” Venable said.
Smith permitted two runs on back-to-back homers by Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martínez in the second inning. The rookie right-hander struck out five and walked none in his 18th start on the year.
Smith is going to Tuesday's All-Star Game in Atlanta as Chicago’s lone selection for the AL team. He is 3-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 18 starts and 86 2/3 innings in his first season with the organization after he was selected in December's Rule 5 draft.
“If they give me the ball, I’m definitely going to throw. No matter what,” Smith said of pitching in the Midsummer Classic.
The White Sox rallied for a wild 5-4 victory in the second game of the doubleheader. But they remain in last place in the AL Central with a 32-63 record.
Venable described the second-half plan for Smith as “start by start.”
“We have to find ways to be creative,” he said. “We have to find ways to do the right thing. No. 1 priority is going to be to put us in the best spot to win the game. Second to that is obviously putting Shane in the best position to navigate the season. We’ll reevaluate every turn in the rotation.”
First baseman Tim Elko was placed on the 10-day injured list before the second game because of a right knee sprain. He was removed from the series opener with knee soreness.
Elko struck out looking in the first in his only at-bat on a warm, muggy afternoon. The 26-year-old rookie is batting .145 with four homers and eight RBIs in 20 games.
Outfielder Will Robertson was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. He started the second game and went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts.
The 27-year-old Robertson was acquired in a trade with Toronto on Thursday for cash.
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Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith (64) throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader Friday, July 11, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.
The Trump administration included five more countries as well as people traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority to the list of countries facing a full ban on travel to the U.S. and imposed new limits on 15 other countries.
The move is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration, in what critics say unfairly prevents travel for people from broad range of countries. The administration suggested it would expand the restrictions after the arrest of an Afghan national suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over Thanksgiving weekend.
People who already have visas, are lawful permanent residents of the U.S. or have certain visa categories such as diplomats or athletes, or whose entry into the country is believed to serve the U.S. interest are all exempt from the restrictions. It was not immediately clear when the new restrictions would take effect.
In June, President Donald Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from coming to the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term.
At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
On Tuesday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S. to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration also fully restricted travel on people with Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents, the latest U.S. travel restriction against Palestinians. South Sudan was also facing significant travel restrictions already.
An additional 15 countries are also being added to the list of countries facing partial restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The restrictions apply to both people seeking to travel to the U.S. as visitors or to emigrate there.
The Trump administration said in its announcement that many of the countries from which it was restricting travel had “widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records” that made it difficult to vet their citizens for travel to the U.S.
It also said some countries had high rates of people overstaying their visas, refused to take back their citizens who the U.S. wished to deport or had a “general lack of stability and government control,” which made vetting difficult. It also cited immigration enforcement, foreign policy and national security concerns for the move.
The Afghan man accused of shooting the two National Guard troops near the White House has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. In the aftermath of that incident, the administration announced a flurry of immigration restrictions, including further restrictions on people from those initial 19 countries who were already in the U.S.
The news of the expanding travel ban is likely to face fierce opposition from critics who have argued that the administration is using national security concerns to collectively keep out people from a wide range of countries.
“This expanded ban is not about national security but instead is another shameful attempt to demonize people simply for where they are from," said Laurie Ball Cooper, Vice President of U.S. Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project.
The Trump administration also upgraded restrictions on some countries — Laos and Sierra Leone — that previously were on the partially restricted list and in one case — Turkmenistan — said the country had improved enough to warrant easing some restrictions on travelers from that country. Everything else from the previous travel restrictions announced in June remains in place, the administration said.
The new restrictions on Palestinians comes months after the administration imposed limits that make it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the U.S. for business, work, pleasure or educational purposes. The announcement Tuesday goes further, banning people with Palestinian Authority passports from emigrating to the U.S.
In justifying its decision Tuesday, the administration said several “U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens.” The administration also said that the recent war in those areas had “likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities."
President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
