Jake Burger launched a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth inning and Lucas Giolito pitched six innings of one-run ball to boost the host Chicago White Sox to a 3-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.
Chicago stopped Boston’s season-high six-game winning streak behind a resilient attack and a sharp outing from Giolito, who spaced five hits, four walks and seven strikeouts to earn his third victory in four May starts.
Giolito (3-1) limited the Red Sox to 1-for-7 with men in scoring position while stranding seven runners and lowering his ERA to 2.63. He retired the final seven batters he faced. The Red Sox stranded 12 men overall.
Hitless against Boston left-hander Rich Hill through the first four innings, the White Sox sprang to life in the fifth. Jose Abreu started the inning with a double before AJ Pollock reached base on third baseman Rafael Devers’ throwing error.
Burger followed by drilling an 0-2 breaking ball into the left field bleachers, putting Chicago ahead by the final margin.
Hill fell to 1-2 after yielding three runs and two hits in five innings with one walk and one strikeout.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Alex Verdugo’s RBI single. The Red Sox rallied with two outs, as a J.D. Martinez single and Xander Bogaerts walk preceded Verdugo’s hit.
More two-out heroics for the Red Sox were not to be in the seventh. Reliever Kendall Graveman retired the first two Boston hitters he faced before two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Verdugo, who grounded out to second base to end the threat.
White Sox closer Liam Hendriks recorded the final four outs for his 14th save in 17 opportunities. He worked around a pair of walks in the ninth by retiring Bogaerts on a flyout to right to end the game.
Hendriks entered the game sooner than anticipated, as Joe Kelly left the field with a trainer in the eighth inning upon suffering left hamstring tightness. Kelly struck out the only two batters he faced before grabbing for his left hamstring.
Martinez had two hits for Boston.
–Field Level Media