The White Sox stumbled out of the gates in Cleveland, falling behind five runs in the first inning in tonight’s defeat. Lance Lynn could not find his footing in the early going whatsoever, as he surrendered six singles and two walks in the opening frame. The Guardians batted around and set the tone in the series opener, highlighted by Nolan Jones and Myles Straw 2-RBI singles and a Franmil Reyes RBI single. Lynn only completed four innings, his shortest outing of the season to date.
Yoán Moncada tilted the tides with a 3-run blast (102.7 mph exit velocity) in the top of the 3rd, scoring Leury García and Tim Anderson. The Sox appeared to be right back in the ballgame after Moncada’s home run and AJ Pollock’s RBI single in the top of the 4th made it 5-4. However, Cleveland’s arms would combine to blank the South Siders in the final five innings. After scoring four unanswered, the Sox saw the Guardians post four unanswered runs of their own, all coming in the bottom of the 5th. All eight Guardian runs in tonight’s affair were credited to Lance Lynn.
The White Sox fell to 41-44 after tonight’s losing effort, and now sit 5.5 games behind the division-leading Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.
W: Cal Quantrill (5-5, 3.99 ERA) | L: Lance Lynn (1-2, 6.97 ERA)
Statcast Leaders
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top of the 3rd: Yoán Moncada homers to center field. Tim Anderson scores. Leury García scores. CWS 3 – CLE 5.
Top of the 4th: AJ Pollock singles. Eloy Jiménez to second. José Abreu scores. CWS 4 – CLE 5.
Notable Performances
AJ Pollock: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI (26)
Pollock had a productive night out of the seven-hole. He turned on a few pitches today and took them both down the left-field line for hits. His 4th inning RBI single scored José Abreu and trimmed the lead to one, giving Sox nation hope if only for a brief while. He also went on to double to leadoff the 7th inning. His batting average crept up to .247 with the solid night.
Yoán Moncada: 1-for-4, 3-run HR (4)
Moncada took a Quantrill cutter deep to right-center field for a momentum-shifting 3-run blast in the top of the 3rd inning. His home run ball traveled 401 feet and trimmed the deficit down to two runs from five. He’ll look to continue providing some much-needed power from the left side into the All-Star break and through the rest of the season.
Lance Lynn: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (100 pitches – 62 strikes)
Lance didn’t look sharp today, though the labor-intensive five-run first inning seemed to be death by a hundred paper cuts. There were three singles with expected batting averages under .250 (.170, .220, and .240), and a broken-bat single which also found a hole. He only managed to complete four innings and his ERA on the season rose to an unsightly 6.97.
Next Games
The White Sox will play a doubleheader tomorrow in Cleveland. Davis Martin will square off against former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber in the matinee, and Dylan Cease will take the hill in the nightcap versus former Sox farmhand Konnor Pilkington.
Both games can be viewed on NBC Sports Chicago, at 12:10 PM and 6:10 PM CST, respectively.
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Featured Photo: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
