Oscar Gonzalez represented the tying run when he came to bat for the Cleveland Guardians with two outs in the ninth inning on Friday night.
His strikeout against Chicago White Sox reliever Gregory Santos ended the game, but it will be far from the last chance Gonzalez has to succeed.
Cleveland will aim to earn at least a split of its four-game road series in Chicago as the set resumes on Saturday. To do so, the Guardians will remain reliant on a core of young position players. Gonzalez figures to be prominent among them after his recall from Triple-A Columbus on Thursday.
The 25-year-old outfielder recommitted himself in the minors after struggling with the Guardians to start the season.
“In talking to (Columbus manager) Andy Tracy, he’s really been a good worker,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “We were really happy to hear about that. He paid attention to detail, because that was one of the things we talked about” when Gonzalez was sent down.
“He worked on his baserunning and outfield play a couple of times a week.”
Chicago won 3-0 on Friday to snap a six-game losing streak. Luis Robert Jr. hit his team-high 29th home run and Jake Burger connected for his 25th, going deep for the third straight game.
The White Sox regrouped not just from their skid but from a recent flurry of trades that has thinned the pitching staff. Since Wednesday, the club has dealt right-handers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Kendall Graveman, Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly.
“It’s tough seeing some teammates you’ve had for many years leave and go to a different team,” Burger said. “But we love the group we have here and can just take it a day at a time and try to go out there and leave it all on the field and not think about anything else.”
Eloy Jimenez extended his hitting streak to eight games as the White Sox won for the first time since July 20.
Cleveland’s Tyler Freeman, who missed the Thursday game with an injured shoulder, entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and finished the game at shortstop.
Josh Naylor collected three of the Guardians’ six hits.
Cleveland will send Logan Allen to the mound on Saturday. Allen (4-3, 3.39 ERA) is coming off a Monday home loss to the Kansas City Royals. He allowed five runs, four earned, and seven hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
The rookie left-hander went 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in back-to-back May starts against Chicago, logging nine strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
Chicago had yet to announce its pitcher but is expected to activate right-hander Mike Clevinger from the injured list to make the start. Clevinger (3-4, 3.88 ERA) has not pitched June 14. He landed on the IL with right biceps inflammation two days later.
Clevinger, who spent his first four-plus seasons with Cleveland, is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts against his former club. He beat the Guardians on May 17, when he gave up two runs on six hits in six-plus innings. He struck out five and walked four.
–Field Level Media
