Indians 8, White Sox 6 (10): Zach Walters belted a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning as Cleveland sent host Chicago to its season-worst seventh straight loss.
Lonnie Chisenhall opened the 10th with a double and Walters made short work of Jake Petricka (0-4) when he crushed a 3-2 fastball deep into the seats in right-center field for his fourth blast in six games. Bryan Shaw (5-3) retired all seven batters he faced as the Indians improved to 14-8 in August.
Walters was one of five players with two hits for Cleveland, which remained 5 1/2 games behind Kansas City in the American League Central and 4 1/2 in back of Seattle for the second wild card. Alexei Ramirez went deep and finished with three RBIs for the White Sox (59-72), who dropped a season-worst 13 games under the .500 mark.
Carlos Santana and Mike Aviles contributed RBI hits during a three-run opening frame for the Indians, but Avisail Garcia plated two with a single up the middle in the bottom half. Michael Brantley halted a 3-for-30 slump and made it 4-2 in the second with a run-scoring ground-rule double down the line in left before Adam Eaton singled in a run in the fifth and scored on Ramirez’s two-run shot to close the book on Cleveland starter T.J. House.
Chicago’s first and only lead of the game proved to be short-lived, however, as Aviles and Walters each reached base to begin the sixth and trotted home easily when Eaton misplayed the bounce on Roberto Perez’s line-drive single to center. The White Sox rallied once again in the seventh, pulling even when Tyler Flowers singled and scored on Ramirez’s groundout.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago 1B Jose Abreu became the first player in White Sox history to record 30 doubles and 30 homers as a rookie with his two-base hit in the first inning. … House surrendered five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 frames, while Chicago's Jose Quintana was tagged for six runs on nine hits over five innings. ... Eaton, who had been sidelined since Aug. 8 due to a strained right oblique, was activated before the start of the game and finished 1-for-4. CF Jordan Danks was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.
Cleveland | Chi. White Sox | |
T.J. House | Player | Jose Quintana |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
4.2 | IP | 5.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 3 |
7 | Hits | 9 |
9.64 | ERA | 10.80 |
Cleveland | Chi. White Sox | |
Zach Walters | Player | Alexei Ramirez |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 3 |
1 | HR | 1 |
5 | TB | 5 |
.500 | Avg | .400 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Cleveland | 14 | 1 | 22 | .359 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Chi. White Sox | 10 | 1 | 16 | .278 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 |