AJ Pollock had a go-ahead, two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning as the host Chicago White Sox salvaged a split of a doubleheader with a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.
Eloy Jimenez belted a solo homer and Yoan Moncada drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox, who avenged a 7-4 setback in the opener of a doubleheader. Chicago snapped a modest two-game skid overall and improved to just 20-27 at home this season after posting a 53-28 record at Guaranteed Rate Field in 2021.
Myles Straw and Amed Rosario each had an RBI triple, and Ernie Clement and Steven Kwan also drove in a run during a four-run seventh inning for Cleveland. The Guardians saw their season-best five-game winning streak come to a halt.
Cleveland mustered just three hits over six scoreless innings against Lance Lynn before igniting its offense with four runs on five hits in the seventh.
Chicago countered by loading the bases with two outs in the eighth inning off Bryan Shaw (4-2). Pollock greeted Nick Sandlin by ripping a hard shot off third baseman Clement, with the ball sailing into shallow left field. Jose Abreu and Andrew Vaughn came around to score to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead.
The late uprising made a winner of Joe Kelly (1-2), who struck out two batters in one scoreless inning of relief. Matt Foster stranded a runner at third base in the ninth inning to secure his first save of the season and the second of his career.
Clement’s single to center field trimmed Chicago’s lead to 3-1. Then he came around to score on Straw’s triple into the right-field corner. Reynaldo Lopez relieved Jose Ruiz and promptly surrendered Kwan’s RBI single to center field and Rosario’s run-scoring triple to right-center as the Guardians claimed a 4-3 lead.
Chicago opened the scoring in the third inning after Moncada worked an eight-pitch walk from rookie Konnor Pilkington with the bases loaded to plate Pollock.
Moncada then belted an RBI double to right-center field with two outs in the fifth. The drive allowed Tim Anderson to score all the way from first base.
Jimenez belted his third homer of the season to stake the White Sox to a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning.
–Field Level Media