Bo Naylor delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth and the Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 7-6 on Tuesday night despite blowing a pair of multi-run leads.
Rookie Daniel Schneemann and Tyler Freeman each hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which took advantage of mistake-prone Chicago to win its sixth straight at home. Andres Gimenez singled to lead off the ninth, went to second on a groundout and took third on a Michael Kopech (2-7) wild pitch.
Then, with one out, Naylor sent a fly ball to center, which Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr. caught. Robert never attempted a throw to the plate as Gimenez scored.
That finish overshadowed a big offensive day for Robert, who hit a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth and roped a two-run single to level the game once again in seventh for the White Sox. Chicago fell to 8-34 on the road this year.
Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco retired the first two batters of the game before Andrew Vaughn homered for a 1-0 Chicago lead. However, the Guardians moved in front in the third when Schneemann, with a man on, drove the ball over the right field wall, just inside the foul pole.
Cleveland went up 3-1 in the fifth when Freeman singled, went to second on a balk by Chicago starter Chris Flexen and scored on a single by Brayan Rocchio.
The White Sox tied it in the top of the sixth on Robert’s two-run shot.
In the home half of the frame, Josh Naylor knocked a one-out double to left and scored when Chicago shortstop Paul DeJong hit him in the back while trying to get him out at third on a grounder by David Fry. Two batters later, Freeman sent a slider from Flexen over the left field fence for a 6-3 Guardians lead.
But in the seventh, Cleveland’s Cade Smith allowed back-to-back singles by DeJong and Nicky Lopez and an RBI double by Lenyn Sosa. Then with two outs — and Hunter Gaddis on the mound — Robert ripped his two-run single to center to make it 6-6.
Emmanuel Clase (4-1) got the win for the Guardians with a 1-2-3 ninth.
–Field Level Media