The never-say-die attitude of the Chicago White Sox was on full display Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians. Down to their last out in the ninth inning, Braden Montgomery and Randal Grichuk hit back-to-back home runs to tie the score.
“We don’t give up,” Grichuk said.
But the Guardians shook off the rally, scoring a run in the 10th to defeat the Sox 4-3 in front of 17,664 at Rate Field.
Kahlil Watson drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 10th to prevent the Sox from sweeping the three-game series. The teams are tied for first place in the American League Central, with the Sox at 41-38 and the Guardians at 42-39.
Wednesday’s game began after a 2-hour, 40-minute rain delay.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
1. The Sox nearly pulled off an amazing comeback.
The Sox got to Guardians closer Cade Smith on Monday. And they did it again on Wednesday.
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Entering the ninth with a 3-1 lead, Smith retired the first two batters. Montgomery homered to center and Grichuk homered to left, an incredible turn of events.
“It says we are not rolling over for anybody,” Montgomery said. “You have to put your best foot forward and give yourself the best chance to find success. If you don’t, then you don’t. We are going to put our best foot forward every time.”
Pitching had dominated most of the day, with no score through five innings.
The Guardians broke through with two runs in the sixth.
Brayan Rocchio began the inning with a single. David Fry hit a grounder that shortstop Colson Montgomery couldn’t field cleanly. Kyle Manzardo walked, loading the bases with no outs.
Rhys Hoskins struck out, but Watson followed with a two-run single.
Photos: Cleveland Guardians 4, Chicago White Sox 3 (10 inn.)
That was all the damage against bulk pitcher Erick Fedde, who allowed the two runs (one earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks in four innings following opener Chris Murphy.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee allowed three hits in six scoreless innings.
The Sox scored a run against reliever Erik Sabrowski on a sacrifice fly to center by Braden Montgomery in the seventh. Grichuk then hit a liner that had double written all over it, but left fielder Steven Kwan covered enough ground to make the catch.
The Guardians extended the lead with a run in the eighth, but the Sox rallied to force extra innings.
“It was and it was impressive, especially against Cade Smith, who is a nightmare to face,” manager Will Venable said. “This guy is as good as they come out of the bullpen. And those guys put some really good swings on him obviously and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Watson came through again for Cleveland, which held on to hand the Sox a rare home loss.
2. Even with Wednesday’s loss, the Sox continued an impressive home streak.
The Sox secured their ninth straight home series victory with Tuesday’s 2-1 win. It’s the longest such streak since also winning nine from June 27 to Aug. 24, 2003.
“Everybody’s comfortable here and the fans are showing out,” starter Sean Burke said after Tuesday’s game. “It’s Tuesday night and there’s 30,000 people in the stands.
“I’m truly excited every single time I wake up and get to pitch at home.”
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The Sox are 26-13 at home. They entered Wednesday tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the best home mark in the majors.
The Sox are 22-5 in their last 27 home games.
3. It was another series filled with positives.
The Sox had plenty of positives to build upon from the series.
“It was a great series, to be able to win a series against these guys means a lot,” Venable said. “At the same time, we were challenged a lot throughout this series and some things that we can grow from and learn from. Some things we’ve got to clean up. But also a lot of positive stuff from our pitching staff.”
That strong pitching began with six scoreless innings on Monday from starter Anthony Kay. Burke allowed one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings on Tuesday, followed by 2 2/3 hitless innings from reliever Sean Newcomb. And Venable said Fedde had “pitched so well” when deciding to stay with him to face Watson in sixth on Wednesday.
Offensively, the big hits included Sam Antonacci’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning against Smith, which propelled the Sox to a 6-5 victory on Monday.
In that instance, the Sox found a way to respond after the Guardians took the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth.
“We signed up to play a team sport and that’s what happens in a team sport,” Antonacci said on Monday. “If anyone’s mad about getting down, tell them to go play an individual sport. Go play tennis or go play golf where you only have to worry about yourself. It’s what you sign up for and you’ve got to get behind each other.
“There’s going to be a time where I go 0-for-4, 0-for-5 with four or five Ks (strikeouts) and I’m going to rely on the guy behind me and the guy in front of me to hopefully not be mad at me that I’m struggling, but pick me up and hopefully get some big-time hits for me.”
Montgomery and Grichuk provided the clutch hitting late on Wednesday in an effort that fell just short.
“It felt like these types of games were the types of games we’ve seen against the Guardians in the past,” Venable said. “And we expect those to be the same in the future.”
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