CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians just didn’t have enough in the tank left for Tuesday night.
Jose Abreu, Josh Harrison and Louis Robert homered to power the White Sox to a 7-0 win over the Guardians in Game 2, earning a split of the day-night doubleheader at Progressive Field.
White Sox starter Dylan Cease picked up his eighth win of the season for Chicago. Cease kept the Guardians scoreless for 5 2/3 innings. He allowed five hits, waked three and struck out nine.
“We got behind against the wrong guy,” manager Terry Francona said. “Just two changeups that they hit out.”
Guardians starter Konnor Pilkington allowed four runs – three earned – on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in five innings to fall to 1-2 making spot starts this season.
“The outing really was decided on two pitches I left up and they hit them out,” Pilkington said.
Cleveland, who played their eighth doubleheader of the season to date with two more still remaining on the schedule, won Game 1 Tuesday afternoon 4-1 behind a complete game effort from starter Shane Bieber.
Abreu gave the White Sox the early lead in the nightcap with his 11th home run of the season – a two-run shot to dead center with two outs in the top of the first.
With one out in the second, Harrison delivered a baseball to the home run porch in left for a 3-0 lead.
“In the kid’s defense, we know he’s not the finished product,” Francona said. “I do think this experience is really good for him and he handles it real well.”
Chicago added a fourth run in the third thanks to a fielding error by Guardians third baseman Ernie Clement that allowed Eloy Jimenez to reach and Andrew Vaughn, who led off the inning with a single, to score from second.
Pilkington will return to Columbus and start Sunday for the Clippers and return to the Guardians for game two of the July 23 doubleheader in Chicago.
The Guardians, who stranded a dozen baserunners, threatened in the sixth by loading the bases thanks to back-to-back walks with two outs, but catcher Luke Maile struck out to end the inning after Cease departed.
“For a lineup that didn’t score, I actually thought our guys battled pretty damn well,” Francona said. “That was as filthy of stuff as we’ve seen in a while.”
Cleveland loaded the bases again in the eighth with two outs thanks to Amed Rosario’s pinch-hit infield single, but Clement lined out to left to end the threat.
Robert hit his 11th homer of the season, a three-run shot, in the top of the ninth off the right field foul pole to close out the scoring and put the game out of reach.
