Logan Allen tossed six scoreless innings and Andres Gimenez and David Fry each homered to help the Cleveland Guardians avoid a four-game sweep with a 7-0 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Estevan Florial had a triple and a double over four at-bats, while Fry walked twice and knocked in two runs as Cleveland ended its three-game losing streak.
Zach Remillard singled twice and walked once batting ninth for Chicago, which had its season-high four-game winning streak snapped.
The White Sox tallied one hit in each of the first six innings but failed to break through against Allen (4-2), whose day started painfully when he was drilled in the lower back by Tommy Pham’s comebacker on the first pitch he threw.
Allen recovered to throw 87 pitches, scattering six hits while striking out three and walking one.
Chicago starter Michael Soroka pounded the strike zone in the early innings, and the Guardians made him pay in the fourth.
Gimenez led off the inning with his second home run of the season, a solo shot that put Cleveland ahead 2-0. He hobbled around the bases after fouling a ball directly off his right kneecap on the previous pitch.
Josh Naylor stung a double off the left-center-field wall two batters later, and Fry followed with his third blast of the season to make it 4-0.
Soroka (0-5) allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one.
The White Sox deepened their deficit with sloppy defense in the sixth inning.
The Guardians went ahead 5-0 on Andrew Vaughn’s fielding error with runners on first and third and added a sixth run on Korey Lee’s passed ball. Two hitters later, Florial dumped a two-out RBI double into left field to make it 7-0.
Cleveland relievers Nick Sandlin, Hunter Gaddis and Sam Hentges held Chicago hitless over the final three innings.
Soroka retired the Guardians’ first seven hitters before Florial lined a one-out triple in the third inning that bounced past a charging Rafael Ortega in center field.
Florial was nearly thrown out at home tagging up on Brayan Rocchio’s ensuing fly ball, but Pham’s throw from shallow left skipped past Lee for a sacrifice fly that scored the game’s first run.
–Field Level Media