Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn, Oscar Colas and Elvis Andrus homered for the visiting Chicago White Sox before their 7-4 win against the Cleveland Guardians was marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the sixth inning on Saturday evening.
Jose Ramirez slid head-first into second base between the legs of Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson after delivering an RBI double. Both players exchanged words before throwing punches, the last of which knocked Anderson on his back.
Both dugouts and bullpens emptied and multiple skirmishes continued for several minutes before Ramirez, Anderson, both managers, Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase and Cleveland third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh were ejected.
Chicago starter Michael Kopech (5-10) helped the White Sox end a five-game losing streak by limiting the Guardians to two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked four.
Guardians starter Noah Syndergaard (1-5) allowed all four home runs in his second start since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was responsible for five runs and nine hits over six innings, striking out three without a walk.
Will Brennan had two hits and two RBIs for Cleveland, which ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the White Sox in the opener of the three-game series on Friday night.
Robert blasted his 30th home run of the season in the third inning for a 1-0 lead.
Vaughn lined the first pitch of the fourth inning over the fence in left to extend Chicago's lead to 2-0. One out later, Colas went deep to make it 3-0.
Andrus homered with a runner aboard in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-0.
Cleveland didn't get its first hit until Andres Gimenez doubled down the right field line with one out in the sixth. Ramirez followed with the RBI double to right that cut the lead to 5-1 and ignited the brawl.
Bryan Shaw relieved Kopech later that inning and Kole Calhoun singled to drive in pinch runner Jose Tena and trim the lead to 5-2. Calhoun was making his team debut and Tena his major league debut.
The White Sox tacked on two runs in the eighth on a single by Zach Remillard to make it 7-2.
A dropped third strike in the eighth kept the inning alive for the Guardians, and Brennan came through with a two-run single to make it 7-4.
--Field Level Media
Chi. White Sox | Cleveland | |
Michael Kopech | Player | Noah Syndergaard |
Win | W/L | Loss |
5.1 | IP | 6.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 3 |
3 | Hits | 9 |
3.38 | ERA | 7.50 |
Chi. White Sox | Cleveland | |
Elvis Andrus | Player | Will Brennan |
3 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 2 |
1 | HR | 0 |
7 | TB | 2 |
.750 | Avg | .667 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Chi. White Sox | 12 | 4 | 26 | .324 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Cleveland | 7 | 0 | 9 | .212 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |