Mike Tauchman checked his swing, broke his bat and hit a bouncer back toward the mound.
It turned out to be just what the Chicago White Sox needed.
The ball skipped under the glove of Cleveland Guardians pitcher Kolby Allard. Colson Montgomery scored on the infield hit, giving the Sox a 5-4 victory in 11 innings.
“It was kind of fitting, on a broken-bat dribbler there,” manager Will Venable said. “I thought we did a good job all day, continuing to put good at-bats out there. And they did a good job, too, and it was a real battle. Nice to be able to scratch that one across.”
The Sox rallied to earn a split of the split doubleheader, wrapping up a long day that included the unveiling of a Mark Buehrle statue in front of 25,084 at Rate Field.
Mike Vasil pitched three scoreless relief innings in the rain for the victory. He escaped bases-loaded jams in the 10th and 11th without allowing a run.
“(It’s) taking a step back and just thinking about how it’s one pitch away but also I have to trust my stuff and get back in the zone,” Vasil said. “Probably wouldn’t have slept tonight if I would have walked in a run that ended up losing the game, might as well make them put the ball in play.”
Lenyn Sosa homered twice for the Sox in Game 2. The Sox had two hits in Game 1, falling 4-2 in front of 12,869.
Luis Robert Jr. had a two-run home run in the second inning. The only other hit — a Chase Meidroth single — came in the ninth.
“Great job by (Robert), love to see the power there from him,” Venable said after Game 1. “But yeah, we’ve got to find ways to get (Guardians starter) Logan Allen on the ropes a little bit there and put the pressure on him.”
Allen allowed two runs on one hit with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
“Really nothing going, outside of the (Austin) Slater ball (lining out to left in the third) I don’t even remember really any hard contact,” Venable said. “Credit to Logan Allen, but we’ve got to find a way to be better.”
Sox starter Shane Smith allowed two runs on two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in three innings during his final outing before the All-Star break.
“With the back to back (starts on) five days and game planning for the year, just making sure we were keeping mindful of the workload,” Smith said of the shortened outing.
Smith allowed back-to-back home runs to Daniel Schneemann and Ángel Martínez in the second inning.
Robert tied it in the bottom of the second with his two-run blast. But Carlos Santana put the Guardians ahead for good with a two-run home run against reliever Tyler Alexander in the sixth.
Smith showed flashes of the form that made the rookie an All-Star, striking out four of the first five batters. But there were also the hiccups with the back-to-back home runs.
More Top Picks Fragrance
“I felt good,” Smith said. “I felt like it was the best step in the right direction so far. Facing an eight out of nine lefty lineup, throwing the changeup for strikes early on. Maybe one too many curveballs they were sitting on for the homer. But I’ll live with that.
“Throwing fastballs for strikes, sitting on the outside corner for most of it and elevating later in the counts.”
And now comes a possible All-Star appearance Tuesday.
“If they give me the ball, I’m definitely going to throw,” Smith said. “No matter what.”
The Sox completed the game without first baseman Tim Elko, who exited before the fifth inning with right knee soreness. Miguel Vargas moved from third base to first and Montgomery entered at third.
Between games, the Sox placed Elko on the 10-day injured list and recalled outfielder Will Robertson from Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox acquired Robertson, 27, from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations Thursday.
Sosa homered in the first inning in Game 2 and again in the fifth. The Sox trailed 4-3 in the eighth, but Josh Rojas tied it with a sacrifice fly to left.
The Sox won it on Tauchman’s bouncer in the 11th with an exit velocity of 35.4 mph.
“Getting a win on a day like today, with everything that’s going on, honoring Mark and everything he’s meant to this organization, to be able to pull out a win in Game 2 was huge,” said Game 2 starter Jonathan Cannon, who allowed two runs in five innings. “It was a different kind of energy around the stadium today that we haven’t had in a little while, and it was definitely special.
“I know a lot of fans wanted to show their support for Mark and his family. Getting a statue, that’s unbelievable, that’s so cool. So to be able to pull out a win tonight was awesome.”