Smith pitched three scoreless innings Saturday against the Dodgers and struck out Shohei Ohtani twice.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — With a spot on the Opening Day roster at stake, Rule 5 pick Shane Smith knows every spring appearance is precious.

And Smith, whom the Sox selected from the Brewers for $100,000 in December, continues to strengthen his case.

Smith threw three scoreless innings — highlighted by two strikeouts of Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani — while displaying a fastball clocked as fast as 98 mph Saturday. He also struck out Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, so it wasn’t a fluke outing.

‘‘I know who’s there,’’ Smith said of the Dodgers’ formidable lineup. ‘‘But if you think about it, you’re already in a hole. It’s me, the catcher and the guy in the box. That’s how I think about it.’’

Smith threw an occasional slider, curve and changeup, but he struck out Ohtani on a pitch clocked at 98.4 mph to start the game, then fooled him with a fastball for a called third strike in the third.

‘‘Just mix and match with him,’’ Smith said. ‘‘He sees things very well. He’s aggressive. So if you can play to the aggressiveness, that’s great. But I fooled him on the last fastball. I don’t know what he saw. He’s unbelievable. So you play with fire a little bit.’’

Smith is being stretched out as a starter, but he could revert to a relief role once right-hander Drew Thorpe returns from elbow soreness. Given the fact he has displayed a deluxe fastball and has allowed one hit while striking out eight in his last eight innings, it seems highly unlikely Smith would be offered back to the Brewers for $50,000.

‘‘I try not to think about [making the big-league roster], especially on days I’m pitching,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t think that will do me any good. I know what these outings mean. I know what being here means. I’m grateful for being here.’’

Marvelous Martin

Right-hander Davis Martin struck out six and allowed one hit in 3 1/3 innings in a B game.

‘‘I couldn’t be happier where I’m at, and I’ll hope to keep this trend going and keep this same tempo with everything,’’ Martin said after his 50-pitch outing. ‘‘I’m just not getting complacent with it and continuing to push and get better.’’

Turn the page

With much rubbish gone from the Sox’ 121-loss team last season, manager Will Venable has little problem telling his players about focusing on the present.

‘‘There really hasn’t been talk about last year,’’ Venable said. ‘‘We understand that it happened, and that’s something that potentially is going to be a topic with the media. But as far as our conversations internally, we’re all focused on what we can do now to execute plays and win games.’’

Meidroth pulled

Second baseman Chase Meidroth left the game in the fifth inning because of cramps in his calves and is listed as day-to-day.

White Sox 5, Dodgers 2

Five Sox pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts in a victory against the Dodgers before 12,289 fans at Camelback Ranch. Grant Taylor secured the victory by striking out six in two scoreless innings to earn the save. Taylor has struck out nine and allowed only one hit in four innings this spring.

• Catcher Korey Lee, who hadn’t played since suffering a bruised right hand Wednesday, smacked a triple in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth.

• Miguel Vargas, who is expected to get most of his starts at third base, started at first base and looked comfortable. He also hit his first home run of the spring in the second.

• There were seven automated ball/strike calls challenged, including two on consecutive pitches in the final at-bat of the game that were overturned from strikes to balls. Nevertheless, Taylor struck out Hunter Feduccia on a slider to end the game.

• On deck: White Sox at Guardians, 3:05 p.m. Sunday, Goodyear, Mason Adams vs. Gavin Williams.