CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox wasted a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity early in their game Thursday against the Cleveland Guardians.
Late in the game, the Sox had a much-needed grounder that wasn’t fielded cleanly.
Instead of completing their first series sweep of the season, those moments proved costly for the Sox in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians in front of 11,900 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox clicked offensively, on the mound and defensively in the first two games of the series.
That wasn’t the case Thursday. The pitching was still on point with Dylan Cease, but the Sox couldn’t overcome the lack of clutch hitting and the error.
“A loss is a loss,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “But this loss right here, we had opportunities to do some things here. We had won the previous two games, we had an opportunity to win this third one and that second inning was a nice opportunity to put a crooked number up there and get ahead early with our opening-day starter (Cease) on the mound.
“We didn’t capitalize in that second inning and just kept the game zero-zero and at that time, anything can happen. (Guardians starter Logan Allen) threw the ball really well. I thought we got more comfortable as the game went on against him. We had a chance to just bring that momentum, keep that momentum, over to our side and we didn’t do it early.”
The Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the second. Hanser Alberto popped out and Seby Zavala and Jake Marisnick struck out.
“(Allen) has a sneaky fastball, it’s 90-92 but it doesn’t play like that,” Grifol said. “Numbers don’t play like that and the communication from our hitters tell us that it’s not playing like that. It plays higher than that. He pitched well, he made pitches.
“We chased a little bit, but at the same time, I don’t know if you can just say we chased because he was around the strike zone the whole time and a lot of those were strike to balls and those were good pitches. But again, bases loaded, nobody out, we score a couple there we bring the momentum to our side and with Cease on the mound we’re feeling pretty good.”
The Sox finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s not a secret we’ve struggled with runners in scoring position this year,” Zavala said. “If we cashed in those runs, it gives our pitchers a little more room, a little bit better chance. We have to figure out how to get those runners in.”
The one hit with runners in scoring position came in the fourth when Zavala drove in Andrew Benintendi with a two-out single to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. The Guardians tied it in the fifth on Gabriel Arias’ two-out homer.
The Guardians threatened in the seventh, with runners on second and third with one out. The Sox brought the infield in, and Brayan Rocchio hit a grounder to shortstop that Tim Anderson couldn’t field cleanly. A run scored on the error.
“He was in good position, he moved his feet, just one of those plays,” Grifol said. “I’m sure he’ll make it nine out of 10 times but (Thursday) he didn’t.”
The Guardians added a run on an RBI single from Cam Gallagher against reliever Gregory Santos. Cease was the tough-luck losing pitcher, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 6⅓ innings.
“Just filling up the zone and getting those early outs is nice for going deep,” Cease said. “Unfortunately in those last couple of innings, I wish I took it to another gear.”
There was positive news for the Sox in the ninth when Garrett Crochet pitched a perfect inning in his first outing after missing all last season following Tommy John surgery.
“It was really important to get that first one out of the way,” Grifol said. “He’s worked his butt off to get to (Thursday). He looked under control, he was throwing strikes, he’ll be a big asset to this bullpen and to this club.”
Yoán Moncada singled to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth. But Zavala struck out to end the game. The Sox (16-29) had to settle for taking two out of three in the series.
“We definitely need to win games we should win,” Zavala said. “Feel like we had a good chance to at least score some more runs (and) give us a better chance.”
Sox to evaluate Liam Hendriks on Friday
Closer Liam Hendriks will throw either a live batting practice or in a bullpen session Friday, and the Sox will evaluate the next steps afterward.
“We’ll sit down and talk to him and see where we’re at,” Grifol said before Thursday’s game. “He’s on schedule. We’ve just got to really communicate well. He’s a really good self evaluator, he’ll be telling us what he feels.”
Hendriks, nearing a return after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday after spending time with Triple-A Charlotte.
“He’s close, so now we’ve got to really do a good job of just evaluating him, how close he really is to being Liam Hendriks, not how close he is just to pitch here in the big leagues,” Grifol said.
