CLEVELAND — Five good innings were not enough for Gavin Williams and the Guardians.
Chicago erupted for six runs during the sixth inning as the White Sox defeated Cleveland 7-3 Monday night at Progressive Field, extending their lead in the American League Central to 1½ games.
Williams repeatedly worked out of trouble while keeping Chicago scoreless through five innings. He escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout of Braden Montgomery and finished with seven strikeouts.
The sixth proved to be one inning too many when Andrew Benintendi opened the inning with a single before Tristan Peters battled Williams through an 18-pitch plate appearance, fouling off 12 pitches before drawing a walk. Williams exited after throwing 113 pitches, and the game promptly fell apart.
Colson Montgomery hit a ground ball to Nathaniel Lowe, whose throwing error allowed Benintendi to score the first run. Chase Meidroth followed with an RBI single before Kyle Teel doubled home two more, extending Chicago’s lead to 4-0.
Miguel Vargas completed the six-run inning by launching his 31st home run of the season off Daniel Espino.
Williams was charged with two runs—one earned—while allowing four hits and three walks across five innings. Tim Herrin surrendered three runs in two-thirds of an inning, while Espino allowed Vargas’ homer before ending the frame.
Cleveland scored an unearned run during the bottom of the sixth when Patrick Bailey crossed the plate on Montgomery’s fielding error, but the offense otherwise produced little against Chicago’s pitching staff.
Sean Burke allowed four hits and two walks across five innings of relief, earning the victory without surrendering an earned run.
Benintendi added an RBI single during the ninth before David Fry provided Cleveland’s only meaningful offensive highlight, launching a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom half. The blast was Fry’s seventh of the season.
More importantly, the White Sox clinched the season series—and the accompanying playoff tiebreaker—while pushing Cleveland further behind in the division race.
With 11 games remaining, the Guardians are officially running out of room for nights like this.
What’s Next: Cleveland continues its three-game series against Chicago Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. ET. Foster Griffin is scheduled to start for the Guardians.
