A powerful night from Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, and Yasmani Grandal led the team to an 8-5 win over Cleveland. The White Sox led 3-2 early, then opened the floodgates with a 4-run 6th inning. Cleveland tacked on a couple of runs late against the bullpen, but Liam Hendriks registered the final out of the game and notched the save.
Despite some issues on defense and with general bullpen execution, the White Sox won somewhat handily because of an offensive performance that certainly resembled what we saw in 2020. With the victory, the White Sox improved to .500 once again at 9-9.
W: Carlos Rodon (3-0) | L: Zach Plesac (1-3) | SV: Liam Hendriks (3)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Luis Robert: 3-for-4, 2B, SB
Luis Robert continued his hot streak at the plate with a three-hit performance and a stolen base. With the effort, Robert is now hitting .310 to start the season.
Tim Anderson and Yasmani Grandal: 1 hit, HR each
Tim Anderson (solo) and Yasmani Grandal (2-run) each provided one hit, and both were home runs.
Carlos Rodon: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 8 SO
Carlos Rodon battled some defensive blunders and shaky command to deliver quality innings and limit Cleveland to just 2 runs.
Jose Abreu: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Jose Abreu had an excellent bounce-back game, hitting two deep home runs and providing an RBI single.
Matchup of the Game
Carlos Rodon faced Jordan Luplow in the 4th inning with the bases loaded and 1 out. Luplow had homered off Rodon earlier in the game, but in a bigger spot, Rodon was able to induce a swinging strikeout after falling behind 3-1 in the count. Retiring Luplow was a necessity to keep the inning from spiraling out of control. The sequence raised the White Sox win probability from 57% to 67%.
Player of the Game
Jose Abreu’s three-hit, two-homer night makes him an easy choice for player of the game.
Next Game
The White Sox will attempt to complete a brief two-game sweep of Cleveland tomorrow evening at 5:10 PM CDT on NBC Sports Chicago. Aaron Civale is scheduled to pitch for Cleveland, while the White Sox have yet to announce a starter (Lance Lynn would have gotten the nod, but is on the injured list). Alex McRae was called up today to replace Zack Burdi, so it is likely he will make an appearance at some point tomorrow evening.
This game will once again be n NBC Sports Chicago.
