SEATTLE — Lance Lynn pitched a seven-inning masterpiece, AJ Pollock and Elvis Andrus homered, and Liam Hendriks survived a scary ninth that did a number on acting manager Miguel Cairo’s stomach.
“The butterflies just dropped,” Cairo said after the White Sox halted the Mariners’ seven-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory Monday to stay on the heels of the first-place Guardians in the American League Central. “It was right here, going all the way up and voom. But it was awesome. Really good win.”
Opening a seven-game road trip and winning for the fifth time in six games, the Sox (68-67) improved to 23-5 when they hit multiple homers and let Lynn do most of the rest. Taking advantage of late afternoon shadows before a Labor Day crowd of 37,107, Lynn (5-5, 4.34) retired the last 17 batters he faced and finished with seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing one unearned run.
Lynn walked one and struck out 11, lowering his ERA to 4.34, throwing 89 pitches and getting 25 swinging strikes. With a 2.28 ERA over his last nine starts, and a strikeout-to-walk ration of 73-5 in his last 10, the two-time All-Star has rounded into the form that earned him a two-year extension last season at just the right time, with the Sox making a last-ditch push to salvage a disappointing season. Lynn’s ERA over his last five starts is 1.42.
“The [late afternoon] shadows were great for me,” Lynn said of working on a sunny afternoon with a local 3:40 p.m. start. “When you have shadows you have to attack because your cutter and sinker are going to work, too. Anything that moves late. And through the shadows it will be tough for them to pick up.”
Kendall Graveman pitched a scoreless eighth and Hendriks negotiated a perilous ninth, allowing a run while needing 30 pitches to pick up his 30th save. Hendriks left the tying and winning runs in scoring position when he struck out pinch hitter Adam Frazier to end the game.
“He got [the save] and we trust him and he’s the man,” Cairo said.
The Sox are 5-2 since Cairo replaced Tony La Russa in the manager’s chair during La Russa’s indefinite absence while he undergoes testing by his personal -physicians.
“Hats off to Cairo and all the coaches taking the next step,” Andrus said. “Making us feel comfortable out there. We all miss La Russa, but we’re kind of doing it for him, too. We know every time we win in the game, we’re contributing to his health. Hopefully he gets well soon and he can get back to being manager.”
“Regardless of how the season’s gone so far, I feel like we’re in a spot to make a charge,” said Aaron Bummer, who came off the injured list Monday. “We’ve just got to keep playing good baseball. We’re finally getting the pieces back and everybody healthy.”
Playing good baseball has been a talking point during the run but it wasn’t good behind Lynn when the Mariners got their run off Lynn when right fielder Andrew Vaughn got a poor jump on Abraham Toro’s bloop RBI single in the third. There was also a passed ball on catcher Yasmani Grandal and a wild pitch on Lynn that was in Grandal’s blocking reach, but Lynn struck out Jake Lamb and Julio Rodriguez to strand two runners and limit the damage to a run. That started Lynn’s streak of 17 batters retired.
Pollock homered against lefty Marco Gonzales in the second and Andrus homered to right in the third with Romy Gonzalez (single) on base, the ball tipping off right fielder Mitch Haniger’s glove near the top of the wall. Andrus, who has solidified the shortstop position after Tim Anderson’s injury, also made a pair of good plays in the field. The former Ranger has five homers against Seattle this season.
