Rookie outfielder Nolan Jones drove in four runs and right-hander Cal Quantrill earned his first win in a month in the Cleveland Guardians’ 8-4 victory on Monday over the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Quantrill (5-5, 3.99 ERA) pitched six innings and allowed eight hits, four runs and one walk. He fanned three batters.
Quantrill, who got his first win since June 12 vs. Oakland, faced two batters in the seventh before being relieved by Trevor Stephan.
The Guardians jumped on losing pitcher Lance Lynn for five runs in the first inning. Jones and Myles Straw each had two-run singles, while Franmil Reyes drove in the fifth run with a single. Cleveland batted around against Lynn, who was making just his sixth start of the season after having knee surgery in spring training.
The White Sox didn’t waste much time getting back in the game. Yoan Moncada blasted a three-run homer off Quantrill in the third. It was Moncada’s fourth homer of the season, just his second in the last 37 games. It traveled an estimated 401 feet to right field. The long ball drove home Leury Garcia and Tim Anderson, which narrowed Cleveland’s lead to 5-3.
It was Moncada’s 14th RBI in his last 15 games.
Chicago rallied for a run in the fourth to inch closer to the Guardians. A.J. Pollock’s single drove in Jose Abreu to make the score 5-4.
Cleveland broke it open in the fifth with three runs, two on a double by Jones that drove in Reyes and Andres Gimenez.
Jones, called up from Triple-A Columbus last week, was 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs.
The Guardians weren’t done yet, however. Straw lined a single off reliever Matt Foster’s shin to drive in Jones with his third RBI of the night.
That closed the book on Lynn (1-2, 6.97), who pitched four innings and allowed nine hits, eight runs and two walks. The veteran struck out three batters.
The Guardians are now 5-1 against the White Sox this season, 4-0 at Progressive Field.
–Field Level Media