Slight shift on mound improves Petricka’s control

CHICAGO — An offseason experiment concerning Jake Petricka’s positioning on the mound came to an end Monday during his 2 2/3 innings of relief against the Angels, covering 33 pitches, 24 for strikes.

“[White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] has always been talking about, with a sinker guy to be able to get that inside to a lefty or outside to a righty more consistently, throwing from the first base side is easier to hit that corner,” the White Sox reliever said. “So I gave that a try.

“I did well in spring with it. Once the lights got going, I got back to my little more getting after it. I was just pulling balls a little too much off. So then we kind of talked that if you move over six inches, those pitches that are just missing all of a sudden are in the strike zone. It was as simple as that.”

Petricka allowed one run on three hits Monday, but did not issue a walk. In his first four games, the right-hander struck out five, but also walked five.

“I was …

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