The Guards take a 6-1 road trip into the All-Star break.
The Cleveland Guardians won five of their last six games and were looking for a seventh win before heading into the All-Star break. Joey Cantillo faced off against former Guard Aaron Civale.
Cantillo made it to the bottom of the fourth having kept the White Sox at bay, only allowing one base runner up to that point. A lead off home run in the bottom of the fourth signaled the start of troubles for Cantillo. Joey got out of the fourth, but in the top of the fifth, things fell away from him. A lead off double got a runner on early and Chicago burnt two outs to get him home via a groundout and a sac fly. Another double and a single put the White Sox up 3-0 over Cleveland.
The Guards offense immediately answered back in the top of the sixth. Brayan Rocchio hit a one-out double followed by back-to-back walks by Steven Kwan and Nolan Jones to load the bases. José Ramírez grounded into a force out to drive in Rocchio. Kyle Manzardo came up with two-outs and hit a towering 418ft homer to right center, putting the Guards up 4-3.
Cantillo was sent out in the bottom of the sixth to continue to face the Chicago lineup. After a strikeout, Andrew Benintendi hit a solo homer and the pitching change was finally called for. Matt Festa got out of the inning leaving the game tied. Joey Cantillo finished the game 5.1IP, 7H, 4R/ER, 0BB, 6K, throwing 89 pitches.
Jakob Junis pitched a scoreless, hitless seventh to turn things back over to Cleveland hitters. In the top of the eighth Cleveland took the lead back! Steven Kwan walked with one out, advancing to third off a Nolan Jones single. José hit a sac fly to score Kwan before the side was retired.
Chicago wasn’t going to roll over this game. In the bottom of the eighth, Cade Smith came on to pitch and gave up a one out double. With two outs, Andrew Benintendi was intentionally walked. Luis Robert Jr. doubled right down the line to left to score the tying run and put Benintendi on third. A flyout to center kept the game tied going into the ninth.
Three quick outs in the top of the ninth meant that Emmanuel Clase would come on to face the 8-9-1 batters for the White Sox. He sent them down in order, sending the game to extras.
Angel Martínez was the ghost runner in the top of the tenth. David Fry pinch hit for Brayan Rocchio, hitting a one-out single to put Angel on third. A sac fly from Steven Kwan put the Guards up by a run.
Stephen Vogt left Clase in for the bottom of the tenth. The first batter hit a fly ball to left and Steven “Extend Him Now” Kwan made an All-Star Gold Glove catch to get the first out.
25 pitches in and the White Sox down to their last strike, Clase was still throwing 100mph. Chicago’s last hope hit into a ground out the third. José easily retired the hitter and securing Cleveland’s victory.
This was a much needed win heading into the All-Star break. The momentum has the opportunity to swing back in Cleveland’s favor looking at the remaining schedule. The team, with the exception of Steven Kwan, will have four days off before starting back up on Friday, July 18th at home against the Oakland Athletics.