Jo Adell’s three-run triple and 19 Cleveland strikeouts sink White Sox 9-3

A tie game turned in one swing

Chicago struck first in the opening inning when Kyle Teel doubled to right, bringing home Sam Antonacci for a 1-0 lead. For two innings, Sean Newcomb helped the White Sox keep Cleveland quiet, but the game changed abruptly in the third.

The Guardians loaded up the inning and cashed in without needing a home run. Travis Bazzana scored the tying run on Steven Kwan’s single to left, then Adell drove the next big moment into the right-field corner. His triple scored Kwan, José Ramírez and Chase DeLauter, flipping a one-run deficit into a 4-1 Cleveland lead.

Chicago did not disappear. Tristan Peters answered with a run-scoring double in the fourth after Chase Meidroth scored, trimming the margin to 4-2. Cleveland restored breathing room in the fifth when DeLauter grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought Ramírez home, but the White Sox again nudged back within two in the sixth when Antonacci was hit by a pitch with the bases occupied, forcing in Braden Montgomery and making it 5-3.

Ramírez and the late innings finish the job

The White Sox held the deficit there until the eighth, when Cleveland finally put the game out of reach. Bazzana and Patrick Bailey came home on Ramírez’s triple to left, stretching the lead to 7-3 and giving the Guardians’ best all-around hitter another decisive entry in the box score.

Cleveland kept pressing in the ninth. Angel Genao doubled to left to score Nathaniel Lowe, with Petey Halpin moving to third, and Brayan Rocchio followed with a single to left that brought Halpin in for the ninth run. That sequence summed up Cleveland’s night: constant traffic, another extra-base hit, and one more clean conversion with runners aboard.

The Guardians finished with 11 hits, 10 walks and 46 plate appearances, seeing 178 pitches over nine innings. Ramírez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Adell drove in three with his third-inning triple and added a second hit. Bailey and Rocchio each collected two hits, while Bazzana scored twice despite going hitless by reaching on two walks. Cleveland also stole two bases and scored all nine runs without a homer, a reminder that patience and sequencing can be enough when a lineup keeps extending innings.

Nineteen strikeouts changed the terms

If Cleveland’s offence supplied the separation, its pitching staff made sure Chicago never built a serious comeback. Seven Guardians pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts, limiting the White Sox to six hits and three runs. Daniel Espino’s start lasted only two-thirds of an inning, but Foster Griffin steadied the game with 2.2 innings and seven strikeouts. Tim Herrin added a three-strikeout inning, and Cade Smith closed the final two frames with five more punchouts and no hits allowed.

That strikeout total swallowed much of Chicago’s good work. The White Sox produced three doubles, one each from Teel, Peters and Antonacci, but no hitter had more than one hit. Antonacci reached twice and drove in a run, Meidroth scored once, and Peters added an RBI, yet too many plate appearances ended without the ball being put in play. Against a staff that kept rotating arms, Chicago never found a sustained answer.

Our take

Cleveland will like the way this win was built. The Guardians did not rely on one swing or a home-run barrage; they kept forcing decisions from White Sox pitchers and took advantage of 10 walks. That approach should travel well, especially on nights when the lineup strings together extra-base hits the way it did with triples from Adell and Ramírez plus late doubles from Genao and others.

There is still one area Cleveland could want cleaner next time: the opening stretch. The Guardians fell behind in the first and needed seven pitchers to cover nine innings after Espino recorded only two outs. The strikeout total made that survivable, but a steadier start would reduce the strain on the rest of the staff.

For Chicago, the clearest problems were command on the mound and contact at the plate. White Sox pitchers issued 10 walks and allowed Cleveland to send 46 batters up, while their own hitters struck out 19 times in 38 plate appearances. The doubles showed there was some damage available when contact came, but it is difficult to stay in range when the opposition is collecting free baserunners and your own at-bats end that often with strike three.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Teel doubled to right, Antonacci scored, Vargas to third.

2. 3rd Inning

   Kwan singled to left, Bazzana scored, Rocchio to second.

3. 3rd Inning

   Adell tripled to right, Kwan scored, Ramírez scored and DeLauter scored.

4. 4th Inning

   Peters doubled to center, Meidroth scored.

5. 5th Inning

   DeLauter grounded into fielder's choice to second, Ramírez scored.

6. 6th Inning

   Antonacci hit by pitch, B. Montgomery scored, C. Montgomery to second, Grichuk to third.

7. 8th Inning

   Ramírez tripled to left, Bazzana scored and Bailey scored.

8. 9th Inning

   Genao doubled to left, Lowe scored, Halpin to third.

9. 9th Inning

   Rocchio singled to left, Halpin scored, Genao to third.