Infield errors, terrible baserunning, and leaving a starting pitcher in one batter too long are typically how the Chicago White Sox lose to the Cleveland Guardians. On Tuesday night, fortunes reversed in the White Sox favor as they scored three runs in the seventh inning on their way to a 4-2 victory.
Cleveland broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to White Sox nemesis Josh Naylor. He doubled down the right field line off Dylan Cease to score Amed Rosario. It was one of those impact hits that generally wins the game for Cleveland, as they boast one of the best bullpens in baseball. Entering the seventh inning, and the mood not being great as the White Sox offense was sputtering again, Guardians manager Terry Francona stuck with his starter Logan Allen.
Allen's pitch was relatively low entering that seventh inning, but the White Sox batters finally figured out the southpaw. It started with Andrew Vaughn's well-placed grounder in the hole between shortstop and third base. Rosario made a nice stop but couldn't recover in time to make a throw.
Next was Andrew Benintendi, and in a lefty vs. lefty matchup, the White Sox left fielder doubled down the right field line. Benintendi's 14th two-bagger put runners in scoring position with no outs setting the stage for Yasmani Grandal.
In the fifth inning, Grandal punished an Allen high fastball for his fourth home run of the season, tying the game 1-1.
A fly ball should tie the game despite Vaughn's lack of footspeed. Well, Grandal hit a grounder in Jose Ramirez's direction. Vaughn was running with the hit, and this moment is where we type how another White Sox runner was thrown out at home on a contact play. Instead, fortune changed for the White Sox.
If Ramirez had fielded the grounder cleanly, Vaughn could have been thrown out at home. But instead, Ramirez fumbled the exchange and couldn't even make a throw to first base. Grandal reached safely on the error, Benintendi moved up to third base, and it was a 2-2 game.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol swapped out Grandal for Adam Haseley to pinch run with Clint Frazier batting. On a 3-2 fastball, Frazier fought it off for a foul ball. Allen tried to get Frazier to chase on a low sweeper, but he held up and took his walk to load the bases. At this moment, reliever Enyel De Los Santos was warming up. With nobody out and Romy Gonzalez batting, Francona stuck with his starter.
That decision ended up burning the Guardians.
On the first pitch, an inside cutter, Gonzalez pulled it down the left field line for a two-run double. The White Sox took a 4-2 lead and were still in a prime spot to bust open the game with runners in scoring position, no outs, and the top of the order coming up. It was then Francona pulled Allen for De Los Santos.
Sure enough, De Los Santos was electric, striking out Tim Anderson, Jake Burger, and Luis Robert in order. The trio combined for eight swings and whiffed seven times against De Los Santos. Perhaps swapping De Los Santos to face Gonzalez could have kept the game tied for Cleveland. Nice to see the White Sox take advantage of a managerial misplay.
The Guardians' bad base running play ended the fourth inning. With runners on first and second, Andres Gimenez hit a grounder up the middle that Tim Anderson had to make a diving stop before it reached center field. Anderson had no shot to throw out Gimenez at first base, but as we got up, he saw Josh Bell being waved home by the third base coach. Making a strong, accurate throw to home, Anderson saved a run as Grandal had plenty of time to place a tag on the sliding Bell. Well, more like Bell flopped toward home plate. Nonetheless, it was a run-saving defensive play by Anderson.
Dylan Cease improves to 3-3 on the season, and his final line of 6 IP 5 H 2 ER is good. It helps lower his season ERA down to 4.60. But there's an underlying concern. Cease only struck out three batters while walking two. In back-to-back starts for Cease, he only struck out six Guardians batters over 12 innings. That's very un-Cease-like.
Looking at StatCast, the Guardians rarely whiffed against Cease's fastball last week. On 15 swings, they only whiffed once, which is remarkable. Tonight, it didn't matter what Cease threw; it wasn't generating swings and misses.
- Four-Seam Fastball: 19 swings, two whiffs
- Knuckle Curve: 9 swings, one whiff
- Slider: 12 swings, two whiffs
Forty swings by Guardians batters, and they only whiffed five times. Even Cease's CSW% was just 20%. Against the MLB's worst offense, according to Team OPS, Cease could get away, allowing this much contact. Was the last two starts just a well-prepared Guardians team lacking offensive talent, or is Cease's stuff diminishing? We'll learn more in Cease's next probable start in Detroit.
Game Notes
- Joe Kelly tweaked something in his lower half during the eighth inning. He made an excellent defensive play on a slower chopper, but the training staff had to visit Kelly. Kelly stayed in the game after a couple of practice pitches, but something to monitor.
- Luis Robert Jr. was pulled in the ninth inning for hip tightness. With a quick turnaround tomorrow, perhaps Robert will get a rare day off.
- On the funny side, watch Clint Frazier’s jumping attempt on a Jose Ramirez fly ball in the eighth inning. It’s the typical circus play we’ve come to expect from White Sox right fielders. Ramirez was awarded a triple off the mishap, and it’s funny because it didn’t cost the White Sox the game.
- Jake Burger received the Platinum Sombrero as he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. In 11 road games, Burger is hitting .133/.235/.300 with 15 strikeouts in 30 at-bats. Quite the opposite from his home splits (.333/.375/.833)
