White Sox edge Guardians 7‑6 in back-and-forth affair
CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Erick Fedde pitched into the sixth inning and Sean Newcomb worked the final 1 2/3 innings for the save as the Chicago White Sox outlasted the Cleveland Guardians 7-6 on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.
The White Sox won their second straight in the four-game series, evening the set after dropping the first two games. Chicago improved to 47-42 while the Guardians fell to 47-44.
Chicago struck first in the top of the first inning. Sam Antonacci grounded out, then Miguel Vargas walked. Kyle Teel followed with a two-run homer to left field, his second of the season, scoring Vargas. Andrew Benintendi lined out, Colson Montgomery singled, and Braden Montgomery grounded out to end the inning, but the White Sox held a 2-0 lead.
Cleveland answered immediately in the bottom half. Travis Bazzana doubled to left field, and Kahlil Watson flied out. Chase DeLauter then crushed a two-run homer to right-center, his eighth, scoring Bazzana. Kyle Manzardo walked, Gabriel Arias singled, and Cooper Ingle struck out. Daniel Schneemann singled to center, scoring Manzardo and sending Arias to third, with Schneemann taking second on the throw. Patrick Bailey grounded out to end the inning, but the Guardians had taken a 3-2 lead.
The White Sox reclaimed the lead in the second. Chase Meidroth grounded out, then Tristan Peters homered to right-center, his fifth, tying the game at 3. Jacob Gonzalez grounded out and Antonacci flied out, ending the inning.
Chicago extended its lead in the third. Vargas doubled to left field. Teel flied out. Benintendi singled to right, scoring Vargas. Colson Montgomery then hit his 23rd home run, a two-run shot to right-center, scoring Benintendi and making it 6-3. Braden Montgomery grounded out and Meidroth grounded out to end the inning.
Cleveland chipped away at the deficit but was held scoreless in the second, third and fourth innings. Fedde worked through traffic, but the Guardians threatened in the fifth. DeLauter singled to second base. Kyle Manzardo reached on a fielder’s choice, with DeLauter advancing to second on a fielding error by shortstop Colson Montgomery. Gabriel Arias then crushed a three-run homer to left-center, his fourth, tying the game at 6. Cooper Ingle struck out, Schneemann grounded out, and Bailey singled but was thrown out at second on the throw from right fielder Braden Montgomery to shortstop Colson Montgomery, ending the inning after a successful challenge by the White Sox.
The tie did not last long. Chicago answered in the top of the sixth. Braden Montgomery walked. Meidroth singled to center, moving Montgomery to second. Peters singled to left, loading the bases. Randal Grichuk flied out to right. Antonacci grounded out to first, scoring Braden Montgomery and moving Meidroth to third and Peters to second. The Guardians intentionally walked Vargas, loading the bases again, but Teel popped out softly to pitcher Erik Sabrowski to end the inning. The White Sox led 7-6.
Cleveland could not capitalize on late chances. In the bottom of the sixth, Steven Kwan walked, but Bazzana struck out, Watson flied out and DeLauter flied out. In the seventh, Manzardo grounded out, Arias struck out and Ingle struck out. In the eighth, Schneemann grounded out, Brayan Rocchio singled to right, David Fry walked, and Bazzana grounded into a force out that put runners on the corners with two outs, but Watson flied out to end the threat.
The White Sox went down in order in the top of the ninth, and Newcomb entered for the bottom of the ninth. DeLauter grounded out to second. Rhys Hoskins struck out swinging. Gabriel Arias struck out swinging to end the game.
Fedde earned his fourth win against six losses, allowing eight hits and two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one. Trevor Richards pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out two. Newcomb recorded his third save with 1 2/3 hitless innings, striking out two.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee took a no-decision, allowing six runs on seven hits over three innings. Colin Holderman took the loss, his second of the season against four wins, allowing one run on two hits over one inning.
Key contributors for Chicago included Colson Montgomery, who went 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs. Tristan Peters was 2 for 4 with a solo homer and an RBI. Kyle Teel had a two-run homer. For Cleveland, Chase DeLauter was 2 for 5 with a two-run homer and two RBIs. Gabriel Arias went 2 for 5 with a three-run homer and three RBIs.
The game featured a total of 21 hits, with Chicago collecting nine and Cleveland 12. Attendance was 22,616. The game lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes.
The White Sox return home Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Cleveland travels to Minneapolis to open a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cleveland Guardians 6, Chicago White Sox 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Cleveland with a 59.50 percent probability to win. Cleveland had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of 13 runs went under the over-under line of 8.5.