Brayan Rocchio ripped a two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning, fueling the host Cleveland Guardians to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Lowe singled off Grant Taylor (7-3) to begin the ninth inning, and Patrick Bailey walked two batters later. Rocchio plated a pair of pinch runners with a blast to left field to end the game.
Cleveland’s Jo Adell belted a two-run homer in the first inning and rookie Travis Bazzana followed with the first of his two solo shots.
Rocchio scored on a throwing error in the fifth inning for the Guardians (77-75), who moved within a half-game of the first-place White Sox (77-74) in the American League Central.
The late uprising made a winner out of Cade Smith (6-1), who threw 1 2/3 perfect innings. Taylor permitted two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings.
Chicago’s Miguel Vargas ripped a two-run single to highlight a four-run sixth inning. He joined Randal Grichuk in delivering a sacrifice fly for the White Sox, while Chase Meidroth and Sam Antonacci each had an RBI single.
The Guardians secured a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning after Davis Martin’s unsuccessful pickoff attempt at first base allowed Rocchio to scamper home from third.
Chicago responded in the sixth inning by loading the bases against Craig Yoho. Hunter Gaddis relieved Yoho and surrendered an RBI single to Meidroth and a sacrifice fly to Grichuk to forge a 4-4 tie. Vargas ripped a single to left field to score both Tristan Peters and Meidroth, putting the White Sox ahead.
Bazzana halved the deficit by drilling a 2-0 sinker from Martin over the wall in center field.
The Guardians weren’t done as Bazzana sent a 1-2 slider from Murphy over the wall in right-center field.
Antonacci had an RBI single in the fourth inning and Vargas added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to bring Chicago within a run.