Chicago White Sox blank Cleveland Indians
By Brian Draus
On a bitterly cold day at U.S. Cellular Field, the Chicago White Sox took down the Cleveland Indians, 6-0 for the series win. It was a great pitching matchup between reigning AL Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber of Cleveland and Jeff Samardzija of the White Sox.
For the second straight day, Jose Abreu hit a solo home run in the first inning putting the White Sox up 1-0. Samardzija was in and out of jams all afternoon, however he went six innings without allowing the Indians to cross the plate.
In the third inning the South Siders would strike again.
More from White Sox News
- The Chicago White Sox might have had a season ending loss
- The Chicago White Sox are expecting Tim Anderson back soon
- Miguel Cairo’s words spark life into the Chicago White Sox
- Dylan Cease should be the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award
- Ozzie Guillen speaks the whole truth about Tony La Russa
Adam Eaton hit a double to lead off the inning, and Melky Cabrera followed him with a single. Abreu made contact, however hit into a double play, though Eaton was able to score making it a 2-0 White Sox lead.
Chicago, who are now 6-8 on the season, added another run in the sixth inning.
With Conor Gillaspie and Avisail Garcia on second and third base with one out, Kluber threw a wild pitch, allowing Garcia to score. Even though Gillaspie was at third and one out, the White Sox failed to bring him home.
The seventh inning was when the White Sox broke the game open.
With Micah Johnson and Eaton on the corners, Cabrera drove Johnson in with a single to left. Abreu stepped to the plate with Eaton and Cabrera on first and second and hit a double to left, scoring both runners giving the White Sox their six-run lead.
Dan Jennings worked a perfect seventh inning, retiring Ramirez, Bourn, and Kipnis. Zach Duke came on in the eighth, and ran into some trouble ,however was able to work his way out of it which is something Sox pitching did all day.
Jake Petricka came on in the ninth for the first time all year, and had some good movement on his fastball. He struggled with command early in the inning, however threw a double-play grounder to Jason Kipnis that ended the game.
Samardzija in his first win of the season, allowing no runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three to improve to 1-1 overall.
It is nice to see the White Sox take two of three from an division opponent. The comeback on Monday night was huge, and the Chicago bats might just be coming to life.
Hopefully the team can keep playing this better baseball versus the Royals, who are one of the best teams in all of baseball. Thursday’s pitching matchup will be a good one, as Yordano Ventura of the Royals will face Chris Sale on the South Side.