On the same night the White Sox locked in the season series against the Cleveland Indians, the Minnesota Twins locked up the AL Central.
These things are related.
The White Sox improved to 10-8 this seaosn against Cleveland with a game to go, and they did it the hard way: Ross Detwiler picked up the win while the Sox handed Shane Bieber the loss.
Bieber was off from his second pitch of the game, which landed a row or two into the left-field seats courtesy of a Leury García leadoff homer. He never really settled in, and his defense didn't help. Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu followed with infield singles, both moved up on a Yoan Moncada groundout that Carlos Santana deflected, and both scored on a grounder that Santana threw away. He attempted to fire home after snagging Zack Collins' chopper and start a pickle with Anderson, but he airmailed the throw. Anderson scored, and so did Abreu, chugging alongside Jose Ramirez to a vacant home plate.
The Sox never lost control of the game, because while Detwiler wobbled a little, Bieber never steadied. When Mike Freeman singled home Franmil Reyes in the top of the third, Yolmer Sánchez singled home Anderson to erase the progress. The Sox made it 5-1 an inning later when Abreu singled followed Anderson's third single with a third of his own, which scored Daniel Palka.
Detwiler survived Ramirez's third homer of the series and traded a run for two outs with a run-scoring double play to complete his five. Bieber outlasted him, but the 10 hits he allowed over 5⅔ innings led to damage the Indians couldn't match.
Welington Castillo put the game out of reach in the seventh with a three-run homer off Tyler Clippard, who inherited a pair of runners who reached via switch-hitting successes off lefty Oliver Pérez. Castillo entered as a pinch hitter for Matt Skole, who left the game with right abdominal tightness.
TAlas, Alex Colomé recorded the rare one-out save with a five-run lead by coming in with the bases loaded after Jace Fry issued a single and two walks, all with two outs. Colomé gave Francisco Lindor the silver sombrero to end the game.
Fry's season won't be redeemed, but Kelvin Herrera is ending his season on a hopeful note. He pitched his fourth consecutive scoreless outing, and he struck out all four batters he faced.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox hadn't won a season series against the Indians since 2015. In the three years since, Cleveland held a 38-19 edge.
*Anderson went 4-for-5 to raise his average to .339. He now leads DJ LeMahieu by 11 points in the batting title race.
*Aaron Bummer struck out the only two batters he faced, so he and Herrera teamed up for six straight K's.
Record: 69-88 | Box score | Highlights
