The White Sox had been in this position against the Detroit Tigers last weekend -- being no-hit an uncomfortably long time by an ordinary righty, but eventually taking the lead in the later innings. They blew that lead, as well as another one that sent them to a damaging series loss at Comerica Park.
Not only did the White Sox pitching staff see the lead all the way through tonight, but they kept the Tigers off the board entirely despite flirting with trouble a handful of times over the course of nine innings.
You have to set aside the idea of Reese Olson holding them to a walk and an error over the first five innings, but otherwise it was a win that reflected the talent difference between the two teams, especially since the Tigers are lacking Riley Greene this time around.
Romy González had a big say in the matter by stepping up in both halves of the sixth inning. First, he snuffed out a potential rally by making a nifty sliding pick on a tricky short-hop for the final out in the top of the frame, and then he led off the bottom of the sixth with the White Sox's first hit, a solid shot through the left side.
That broke open the floodgates, after a fashion. Tim Anderson followed with a single to center that put runners on the corners and knocked Olson out of the game, and Andrew Benintendi greeted Will Vest with a single through the left side for the game's first run on the first pitch he saw.
Luis Robert Jr. struck out, but Eloy Jiménez followed with a shot up the middle that slipped under the glove of a diving Andy Ibáñez to score Anderson. Benintendi took third, and Jiménez advanced to second as the throw eluded cutoff man Spencer Torkelson, but the Sox couldn't score an additional run, as Yoán Moncada grounded into a fielder's choice at home, and Andrew Vaughn flied out.
They scored that insurance run in the seventh. Jake Burger beat a potential double play by a step, and that mattered when Anderson hooked a grounder past third base and into the vacated left-field corner, allowing Burger to score all the way from first for a 3-0 lead.
Despite a few scares, the Sox proved the insurance unnecessary.
Reynaldo López started the seventh by watching Robert play a sinking liner by Eric Haase into a double with a late break and ill-advised diving attempt, and then he back-filled first by walking Miguel Cabrera. Ibáñez's grounder to short was a little too far to Anderson's left for the 6-4-3 double play, settling for the 6-4, but López had no problem going the long way. He jammed Nevin into a popout, and just when it looked like Zach McKinstry would torment the Sox again with a troublesome grounder to the right side, González flagged it down with a sliding stop and a quick throw to foil McKinstry, who slammed down his helmet like Rosco P. Coltrane after losing track of the Duke boys.
Joe Kelly, who blew both of the aforementioned leads in Detroit, didn't break this time around. He issued his first walk since April 5 to start the inning, then threw an unimpressive fastball that Javier Báez inside-outed to right field. No matter: Kelly struck out Torkelson, blew away Nick Maton, then knocked down a Haase comebacker and recovered in time for the 1-3.
Kendall Graveman then recorded his fifth save in as many opportunities with a perfect ninth.
Keenyn Middleton ended up picking up the win for his scoreless sixth, but maybe Mike Clevinger lasts that long in his second start off the injured list. In his first start back from a wrist issue, Pedro Grifol lifted Clevinger after five innings and 73 pitches. He threw plenty of strikes and stayed on the attack, retiring the first 11 he faced before Báez broke up his no-hit bid with a two-out triple, but he pitched carefully/around Torkelson to pick on Maton, who struck out.
An inning later, Clevinger had to record the third out twice, as an inning-ending double play was overturned by review. He got McKinstry to fly out to center to keep the runners stranded on the corners, and the Tigers were well on their way to an 0-for-9 night with runners in scoring position.
Clevinger allowed just three hits and a walk, throwing 53 of 73 pitches for strikes. In a lineup that drops in quality after three batters, the other White Sox pitchers in this series should follow that lead.
Bullet points:
*Pedro Grifol used Seby Zavala as a pinch-runner for Yasmani Grandal, and then Zavala had to hit for himself with two on in the eighth. Fortunately, those runs weren't necessary.
*Robert had one of his off nights, striking out three times along with the misplay in center. He did draw a walk in his final plate appearance, which hopefully represents recalibration.
*Jake Marisnick went 0-for-2 with a throwing error in his return to Guaranteed Rate Field. He did not receive a video tribute.
