The White Sox’s stay atop the AL Central ended in Cleveland on Wednesday, and it happened in a hurry.
Sean Newcomb couldn’t hold the line in the sixth inning, Petey Halpin delivered the swing that flipped the game, and the Guardians beat Chicago 6-3 in the rubber game at Progressive Field. With the loss, the White Sox slipped out of first place for the first time since July 3.
Cleveland moved to 78-75 and took a half-game lead over Chicago, which fell to 77-75. The White Sox still own the final American League Wild Card spot, sitting 1 1/2 games ahead of the Rangers.
The turning point came after Hagen Smith handed the ball to Newcomb with two outs and two runners on in the sixth. Newcomb immediately ran into trouble, serving up Petey Halpin’s Statcast-projected 393-foot three-run homer to right. David Fry and Austin Hedges, both of whom had walked against Smith, scored on the blast, and Cleveland was suddenly in front 5-3.
The Guardians tacked on another run in the inning when José Ramírez drove in an RBI double to make it 6-3.
Chicago had grabbed the lead just one inning earlier. Tommy Pham crushed a three-run homer off All-Star Parker Messick in the fifth, sending Chase Meidroth and Randal Grichuk home on a two-out, Statcast-projected 412-foot drive to the bleachers in left-center.
Messick still walked away with the win after striking out eight over six innings. Cade Smith finished it off and earned his 37th save in 42 chances.
Newcomb was tagged with the loss and didn’t record an out, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.
Cleveland’s first two runs came in the third, and they were both unearned. Jo Adell lined a two-run shot over shortstop Luisangel Acuña with two outs, bringing home Halpin and Steven Kwan after an odd error by second baseman Meidroth kept the inning alive.
Meidroth had tried to tag Halpin on a potential double play on Kwan’s grounder, but the ball popped out of his glove and both runners reached. Adell then singled off White Sox starter Anthony Kay two batters later.
Chicago also had to finish the game without Colson Montgomery. The third baseman left in the fifth after taking a Messick pitch off his left wrist the previous inning. X-rays at the ballpark were negative, and he’s considered day-to-day.
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