CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Naylor snapped a tie in the ninth inning with a pinch-hit single, and the streaky Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-4 in the opener of a split doubleheader on Saturday.
Steven Kwan had three hits and José Ramírez drove two sacrifice flies in two runs as Cleveland hit a season-high with their fifth straight win. Amed Rosario had two hits and two RBIs.
The Guardians improved to 8-9 in games during their nine top-level doubleheaders in the major leagues. They started the day just 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the AL Central lead.
Rookie Nolan Jones doubled to start in ninth place and Naylor, batting for catcher Austin Hedges, gave Cleveland a 5-4 lead as he beat All-Star seamer Liam Hendriks (1-3) in hit the middle. Kwan caught in pinch-runner Alex Call and hit Ramírez’s flyball.
“Nobody has to do more than they have to. Everyone’s kind of doing their job, doing their part,” Kwan said. “Obviously Nolan is leading, has a great shot and gives us a chance. It’s just nice to be able to rely on guys and not feel like I have to do everything on my own.”
Naylor is batting .400 (14 to 35) with three homers and 16 RBIs against Chicago this year.
“We’re never afraid to give up runs or go into a late ballgame in a tied game because we know we have the confidence as a team to string some hits together and put some runs on the board,” said Triston McKenzie . who fielded 5 2/3 innings of a one run ball.
Trevor Stephan (4-3) made four outs for the win, and Emmanuel Clase made his 20th save for a 1-2-3 for ninth.
Yasmani Grandal had three of Chicago’s 11 goals back in his second game after being sidelined by lower back spasms. Johnny Cueto was charged with four runs, three earned and eight hits in seven innings.
The White Sox, chasing their second straight title, fell 8-9 in 19 straight games against AL Central opponents. They also fell to 19-27 at home after going 53-28 in guaranteed rate field last season.
“There’s still a lot of season to play,” Cueto said through a translator. “We can’t keep our heads down. We have to keep playing and use every day.”
Cleveland almost squandered another solid performance from McKenzie, who was feeling a little queasy before the game. The wiry right-hander had a scoreless 24-inning streak before Grandal’s two-out RBI single in the fourth.
McKenzie was lining up for his first win against Chicago before Cleveland’s bullpen faltered. He was 0-2 with an 8.63 ERA in seven career appearances against the White Sox coming into the day.
Cleveland jumped ahead with four runs in the fifth. Kwan doubled at Jones, Rosario singled in two more runs and Ramírez made it 4-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Eli Morgan replaced McKenzie and knocked out Sheets for the final in sixth place, stranding the runners in first and second place. But the White Sox pushed through three runs with two outs in the seventh.
Josh Harrison and Yoán Moncada had back-to-back RBI doubles. Morgan was then replaced by Stephan, who gave Andrew Vaughn a tied single.
The White Sox had a shot at more, but Sheets kept the bases loaded as he swung to the finals.
“We had three chances to get the starting shot and they were able to pitch three times,” said manager Tony La Russa. “It would be nice to play with the lead, let’s see what happens. But that’s not how it developed.”
WORTHLESS
Ramírez has had at least one run in five straight games. His two sacrificial flies gave Cleveland 35 this season, top scores in the AL and equal to his 35 sacrificial flies all of last season.
NEXT
Left-hander Konnor Pilkington (1-2, 4.24 ERA) starts for Cleveland in game two, and right-hander Lance Lynn (1-3, 7.50 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago. Lynn is 0-2 with a 12.21 ERA in his last three starts. Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber (4-5, 3.24 ERA) and White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (9-4, 2.15 ERA) meet in Sunday’s series finale.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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