Sean Newcomb showed it doesn't have to be so hard.
After Grant Taylor and Seranthony Domínguez combined to squander late-inning multi-run leads the last two games, Newcomb took over for Sean Burke with a runner on second and one out in the seventh with the White Sox leading 2-1, and Will Venable didn't need to go to the bullpen again.
Newcomb stranded the runner with a pair of groundouts as the lineup flipped over, and then rallied from a 3-1 count to strike out Stuart Fairchild to work around a two-out walk in the eighth. Although he'd thrown 28 pitches, the White Sox didn't have anybody working up a lather in the White Sox bullpen, and Newcomb indeed carried the game across the finish line. He had to survive a deep flyout from emerging Sox killer Khalil Watson and a lineout from longtime nemesis Steven Kwan, but he finally figured out how to retire Austin Hedges with a strikeout, and the White Sox secured their ninth consecutive series victory at home while reclaiming sole possession of first place in the AL Central.
"Usually Day 3 I'm ready to throw a little bit; usually not three-ups like that, but the night kinda called for it," Newcomb said of bouncing back from 42 pitches on Saturday. "I got through the second [inning] there and came in. I kind of had a feeling they would appreciate me saying I was good for the next one. I kind of could see it in their eyes. I told them I was good."
Newcomb's effort allowed Miguel Vargas' sixth-inning solo shot off a tough Parker Messick to stand up as the winning run, and preserved a deserved victory for Sean Burke.
"I don’t think he’s getting the recognition he deserves with how good he’s been, how versatile he’s been," Burke said of Newcomb. "Newc’s a dog, he’s been doing this all year for us. The starters kind of joke around, when we get out of the game and there’s a runner on and I see Newcomb coming out of the bullpen, I feel a lot better."
Burke picked up where he left off in New York, throwing 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball and once again needing just one other pitcher to finish nine innings. He and Newcomb combined to hold the top five spots in the lineup 0-for-18 with two walks, but unlike Newcomb, he had greater difficulties retiring the bottom of the order.
He only needed 15 pitches to get through two perfect innings, but Kwan sliced a double to left to open the third, and then Burke plunked a Hedges who was attempting to bunt. Petey Halpin bunted both runners over, and Burke foiled the attempt to play for one run by denying the Guardians that. He worked over Travis Bazzana with three curveballs setting up a high fastball for strike three, then got inside enough on Kyle Manzardo for a harmless flyout to end the threat.
Cleveland ended up getting that first run two pitches into the fifth, when Watson turned around a high fastball and sent it a few rows deep into the Miller Lite Landing for his first career homer, after notching his first career hit the night before. That tied the game at 1, and Hedges started an actual rally two batters later with a one-out single, then moved to second on a Halpin single that turned over the lineup.
That didn't end up being a problem tonight, as Burke beat Bazzana with a full-count slider after a longer battle for the second out. Manzardo wasn't fooled by the curve-high fastball combo and drew a five-pitch walk that loaded the bases, but Burke jammed Brayan Rocchio with a slider, and it died in Luisangel Acuña's glove to leave them loaded.
The Sox looked poised to immediately retake the lead off Messick when Braden Montgomery led off with a walk. Acuña replaced him after a fielder's choice and immediately exploited the running upgrade by stealing second, then taking third when Hedges' throw bounced into center field. That's where he stayed, however, as Sam Antonacci popped out, and Drew Romo struck out.
Just like Watson, Miguel Vargas didn't wait around. He came to the plate to start the sixth and worked a 2-1 count, and when Messick tried getting inside with a slider, Vargas opened up and beat the ball to the spot with his barrel, bouncing it off the back wall of the White Sox bullpen. He set a career high with his 17th homer, and established the 2-1 lead that held up the rest of the way.
"I’m just trying to stay inside the ball and try to drive the ball through the middle, just react to that ball and put a good swing on it," Vargas said. "We know how important this series means for us, especially after a tough road trip. Come back home and I’ve been saying this a lot, but the atmosphere here at home is way different. A lot of people showing up every single day. We can feel the energy out there is very high every day."
Bullet points:
*Colson Montgomery won a lefty-lefty battle against Messick, guiding a grounder through the right side to score Randal Grichuk, who reached with a one-out double. Messick only allowed three hits over 7⅔ innings while striking out 10 to lower his ERA to 2.67, but tonight, those three hits factored in two runs scoring.
*At 16-8, the White Sox now have more one-run victories in 2026 than they had in all of 2025, when they were 15-36. At 41 wins, they've matched their 2024 win total before the halfway mark.
*Speaking of 2024, the White Sox hadn't won a game with just three hits since June 18 of that year, when Jonathan Cannon outdueled Framber Valdez in a 2-0 victory over Houston.
*Newcomb's 2⅓-inning save was the longest by a White Sox pitcher in a traditional save situation since Aug. 20, 2003, when Damaso Marte pitched the final three innings of a 5-3 victory over Anaheim. There have been four three-inning saves since, but all of them were comfortable victories.
*Brooke Fletcher sat in for Steve Stone, who was a late scratch with an illness, to become the first woman analyst in White Sox history.
"I texted my husband, 'I think I’m going to be in the booth tonight,'" said Fletcher, who is married to Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth. "He goes, 'Wait, what?' I called him and he was like, 'You got this. You know baseball and grew up around it.' He’s like, 'Go have fun and just be you.'”
