After losing the first two games in Cleveland in emotionally and physically painful ways, the White Sox couldn't avoid the sweep that capped off an 0-6 AL Central road trip and extended their losing streak to eight games, but at least this loss was mundane.
Today's affair never felt that promising, even when the White Sox took a 1-0 lead on Gavin Williams in the first inning. That's partially because of the unauthoritative way it was authored. Nick Maton led off with a soft single, advanced to second on an Andrew Vaughn drubber, then ran the other 180 feet via #WILDPITCHOFFENSE.
It's also because Jonathan Cannon surrendered the lead before the first inning came to the close. Kyle Manzardo swatted a first-pitch sweeper into the right field seats to put Cleveland ahead 2-1, and Cleveland controlled the remainder of the game.
Two innings later, Cannon's first two pitches turned into two Guardians runs. Brayan Rocchio led off by doubling on a first-pitch cutter, and then Steven Kwan turned on a first-pitch fastball and lined it just over the right field wall for a 4-1 lead.
The Guardians then turned to smaller ball for a couple of runs, although Cannon was able to mitigate some larger threats and pitch into the sixth inning. In the fourth, Cleveland loaded the bases with a single, walk and Lenyn Sosa error on what should've been a 4-3 putout, and while a Kwan one-out single made it a 5-1 game, Cannon struck out José Ramírez on a perfect backdoor cutter, then got Carlos Santana to ground out.
In the sixth, Bo Naylor sprung a bunt on Cannon for a leadoff single, advanced to second when Matt Thaiss' pickoff throw went down the right field line, moved to third on a Cannon balk, and then came around to score when Kwan greeted Bryse Wilson with a bunt single. Cleveland threatened further, but Thaiss was able to atone for his error by picking off Rocchio at third after faking a throw to second, putting the White Sox on the winning end of a very White Sox Play.
Thaiss also contributed the White Sox's lone hit only the final seven innings with his one-out double in the ninth. Two batters later, Lenyn Sosa lined a single to left, but there was no point sending Thaiss on Kwan's arm. Brooks Baldwin then flied out down the right field line to end the game, so the White Sox finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and that hit didn't score a soul.
Bullet points:
*Baldwin let a fly ball drop in foul territory down the left field line after a long run, pulling up because Miguel Vargas was in the vicinity. The miscommunication didn't lead to any runs.
*Thaiss was involved in a lot of moments. Besides the error, the pickoff and the double, he also drew a first-inning walk, only to get caught stealing when he tried taking off with Williams still holding the ball. He also took a couple of backswings to the helmet, but both came after the CS.
*Maton, Thaiss and Sosa each reached base twice apiece. The rest of the lineup went 1-for-21 with nine strikeouts.
*Cannon became the first White Sox pitcher to throw 100 pitches in a game, finishing with 102.
