The 25-year-old southpaw scattered just four hits on the evening and did not walk a batter. The only run that the White Sox were able to muster against him came on an RBI single by Edgar Quero in the fourth inning. Abbott generated 13 swings and misses on 96 pitches on the night — eight of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll bring a pristine 2.10 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 38/12 K/BB ratio (30 innings) into Sunday’s tilt against the Guardians.

Abbott was outstanding on Tuesday, shutting out the Braves over five innings. He scattered four hits while striking out eight batters on 11 whiffs while issuing zero walks for the first time this season. That’s now nine scoreless innings over his last two starts. Abbott’s Reds were shut down on the other side by Chris Sale and he had to settle for a no-decision. The 25-year-old right-hander will take a 2.25 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 31/12 K/BB ratio across 24 innings into a start against the Astros in Houston on Sunday.

Abbott definitely would have started the fifth if not for the delay, but there’s no guarantee he would have finished it; he’d already walked four and thrown 74 pitches through four innings. His ERA sits at 3.32, but he’s not recommended in a road start in Atlanta next week.

Coors Field is not a fun place to pitch, especially for someone like Abbott who thrives on the vertical movement of his fastball. That fastball lost four inches of induced vertical break in this start compared to its season average and he seemed hesitant to throw it in the zone unless he was way behind in the count. He wound up just nibbling and struggled to grab strikes with any of his secondary pitches. This start was certainly a step in the wrong direction after two great starts. He’ll look to get back on track in his next scheduled start against the Cardinals at home.