On a night where both the White Sox’ and Tigers’ offenses struggled to score runs, Mike Clevinger and Reese Olson went toe-to-toe on the mound to help their respective team take game one of a three-game series on the Southside. It would be the Sox who prevailed.
Mike Clevinger had himself a night as he pitched through five innings, allowing three hits, walking one batter, and fanning six batters. His command throughout the night was solid, and his defense helped keep the Tigers’ offense at bay. Clevinger got into some trouble throughout the night, but he danced around a few RISP opportunities and recorded the outs. The keys were placed in the hands of Keynan Middleton, Reynaldo Lopez, and Joe Kelly before Kendall Graveman came into the ninth to complete the shutout and get the save on the evening.
As for the offense, not much was offered, as Reese Olson’s first career start was also a taste of a no-hitter against the Sox through the sixth. The no-hitter was broken as Romy González singled on a grounder to left, getting it past Nick Maton.
Tim Anderson and Andrew Benintendi followed with singles of their own, the latter collecting an RBI single, scoring Romy González to make it a 1-0 game. Eloy Jimenez also joined in on the offense, as he collected an RBI single up the middle to Jake Marisnick, scoring Anderson and making it a 2-0 game. Jiménez extended his hit streak to thirteen, tying his career high. In the bottom of the 7th, Anderson extended the lead by blasting a two-out RBI double to left field, scoring Jake Burger.
With this victory, the Sox are back in the win column, improving to 24–35, and will play game two tomorrow afternoon.
W: Keynan Middleton (1-0) | L: Reese Olson (0-1) | S: Kendall Graveman (5)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
- Bottom 6th: Andrew Benintendi singles to left field. Romy González scores. 1-0 White Sox
- Bottom 6th: Eloy Jimenez singles on a line drive to center field. Tim Anderson scores. 2-0 White Sox
- Bottom 7th: Tim Anderson doubles (8) to left field. Jake Burger scores. 3-0 White Sox
Notable Performances
Mike Clevinger: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
An outstanding performance from Mike Clevinger! He carried a shutout through five innings, and his SO-BB ratio was 6-1. His breaking balls made a few batters chase outside the zone. He did get himself into some jams with a Báez triple in the 4th and a Cabrera single in the 5th, but overall, he had a solid night.
Tim Anderson: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
Anderson found this groove at the plate tonight by going 2-for-4 and collecting his eighth double of the season, giving the Sox the lead at the bottom of the seventh.
Eloy Jiménez: 1-for-2, 1B, RBI, K
Jiménez extends his hit streak to 13 and ties his career high for the third time in his career.
Next Matchup
The White Sox and Tigers are back again tomorrow for game two of a three-game series at Guarantee Rate Field. Dylan Cease will get the start, opposed by Michael Lorenzen.
The game will start at 1:10 PM CDT over on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
