CLEVELAND — Elvis Andrus broke a tie in the ninth inning with a two-run single through the middle of the infield against closer Emmanual Clase, and the White Sox cashed in on two throws in the dirt by third baseman Brayan Rocchio to defeat the Guardians 5-3 Sunday at Progressive Field.
The result gave the Sox (45-68) their second straight victory and a series win over the Guardians, whom they fought with the night before.
Andrus and Luis Robert Jr. banged a couple of hard-hit balls against the wall in the first inning, one for a double and the latter for a triple, and sacrifice fly from Eloy Jimenez followed for a 2-0 lead against Guardians starter Xzavion Curry.
Robert’s drive hit the top of the high wall in ‘scenter for a triple, a day after he clubbed his 30th homer in a fight-marred 7-4 Sox victory. Robert also crashed against the center field wall to rob Kole Calhoun of extra bases in the sixth.
Jesse Scholtens, getting an opportunity to claim a spot in the 2024 starting rotation, had his second quality start of the road trip, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and one one walk over six innings. Scholtens, a 29-year-old rookie, had 13 swings and misses and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 3.06.
Right-hander Lane Ramsey retired all four batters he faced in relief, getting two groundouts and two pop-ups in his major league debut.
Jimmy Lambert allowed a leadoff single to Jose Ramirez — who advance to second on an error by right fielder Oscar Colas — but retired the next three batters in the ninth to record the save. Andrus, playing shortstop, made a strong play from the hole to get the first out of the inning
A friend in Touki
Touki Toussaint, slated to start against the Yankees Tuesday, has become somewhat close to Tim Anderson since Toussaint was claimed off waivers from the Guardians. Toussaint was one of the Sox players holding Anderson back after Anderson fought with Jose Ramirez Saturday.
“He’s my boy, I’ve got his back,” Toussaint said. “Not even baseball, just as a person. We’ve had a relationship since 2020. It’s ‘you go, I go.’ ’’
Zavala to injured list, Carlos Perez recalled
Catcher Seby Zavala landed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique, and catcher Carlos Perez was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.
Grifol called it “a little bit of an oblique.”
“We don’t think it’s too serious, but it’s definitely enough to bring Carlos in,” Grifol said. “Hopefully it starts getting better quickly and we can get him back.”
Yasmani Grandal, in the final year of his contract, caught Sunday. But Perez, who was around but didn’t play a lot when three catchers were being carried, could get more looks this time.
“As an organization we need to see him play,” Grifol said. “He can swing the bat a little bit, he did some good things behind the plate. We’re going to test him a little bit and see what he’s got.”