After two nights of being walked off, the White Sox reversed course, pushing to a 3-1 lead late and then locking the win up with zero drama. In the process, Sean Burke dazzled through six with a career-high strikeout night, Colson Montgomery celebrated a year since his debut by putting two of the three runs on the board, and Grant Taylor saved the lead by blanking Cleveland in the ninth.
But before we break down the game, let’s take a moment to celebrate Miguel Vargas, who was selected to represent the White Sox in the All-Star Game!
A first-inning walk to Vargas would haunt Parker Messick as Colson Montgomery celebrated the first anniversary of his MLB debut with a broken-bat RBI double:
Burke dazzled in the second inning, with two strikeouts, then notched his 100th strikeout of the season in the bottom of the third with back-to-back Ks, blanking Cleveland once more.
Burke collected his seventh strikeout in the bottom of the fourth, but in the next frame Austin Hedges knotted the game with a homer. Cleveland threatened to take the lead after a Steven Kwan one-out triple, but he was caught in a pickle after the Guardians called for an ill-advised contact play. Burke tidied things up with a punch out of Chase DeLauter, A rundown with Kwan and a strikeout kept Burke away from any further damage, ending the frame at 1-1.
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Burke smelled a career high in Ks in the sixth, striking out the first three batters he saw to push is total to 11. However, because Drew Romo couldn’t find the ears on a K of Kahlil Watson, Watson scampered safely to first. Despite the speedster then stealing second and third, but Burke escaped the jam by coaxing Cooper Ingle to ground out to first.
The White Sox offense ultimately did enough for the win, but didn’t act with enough haste to earn Burke a much-deserved win.
Speaking of that sleepy offense, Colson Montgomery opened the eighth by driving in his second run of the game, a solo homer to make it 2-1:
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Peters doubled to start the ninth and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Romo picked up a four-pitch walk, and with a sac fly, Vargas sent Peters home for a much-needed insurance run.
Brandon Eisert was fabulous in his two innings of relief of Burke (and vultured the win from him), then handed the ball to Grant Taylor for the save. stepped in to close out the ninth. The win broke a a nine-game losing streak at Progressive Field for the White Sox over the last two years, and knotted the two clubs back up at the top of the AL Central.
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