Sept. 11 – Ryan Thomas had two hits, including a three-run homer, and seven Cleveland pitchers combined for five hits, leading the visiting Guardians to a 5–0 win over the storied Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
Cleveland (83-62) leads the Kansas City Royals by 3 1/2 games in the American League Central Division.
The Guardians defeated the White Sox (33-113) in an unexpected bullpen outing as the White Sox suffered their worst losing streak of 14 consecutive home games.
Guardians starter Ben Lively lasted just two innings before exiting the game after being hit by a returner on the outside of his right thigh.
The ball hit by White Sox right fielder Dominic Fletcher hit Lively and bounced toward first baseman Josh Naylor, who made his final contact of the second inning. Cleveland staff helped Lively off the court and he made his way to the dugout.
Pedro Avila, Eli Morgan, Cade Smith, Tim Herring, Hunter Gaddis and Eric Sabrowski combined to throw seven scoreless innings.
Avila (6-1) allowed two hits in two innings.
Chicago rookie right-hander Jonathan Cannon lost for the fifth time in six starts. Cannon (3-10) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, with one walk and four strikeouts.
Cleveland took a 1–0 lead in the second inning when Kyle Manzardo gave up a run to Thomas, who doubled.
Cannon got one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but was forced out after loading the bases and allowing a hit. Thomas welcomed back reliever Gus Worland, who hit a triple to center field to give the Guardians a 4-0 lead.
Andrew Vaughn went 2-for-4 for Chicago. Andres Gimenez, Thomas, Josh Naylor and Manzado each had two hits for the Guardians. Gimenez added an RBI single in the ninth inning.
The White Sox must win 10 of their remaining 16 games to avoid breaking the 1962 New York Mets record for most losses in a season in modern baseball history (120).
Sean Burke, the White Sox’ 2021 third-round draft pick, pitched three innings in his major league debut. He gave up one unearned run and three hits, loaded the bases on four balls and struck out three.
Cleveland won the season series against Chicago with its seventh win in 12 games. The Guardians hope to take a three-game lead in the ongoing tournament on Wednesday.
——Visual-level media
