Rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo pitched seven sharp innings and David Fry and Bo Naylor each homered to boost the visiting Cleveland Guardians to a 5-3 win against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
Cleveland (82-62) stretched its lead atop the American League Central to 3 1/2 games over the Kansas City Royals, who lost to the New York Yankees earlier Monday.
Trying to win consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from June 27-29, the White Sox (33-112) struggled to mount an offensive attack, striking out 14 times against Guardians pitchers.
Cantillo (1-3) set the tone to pick up his first career big-league victory. Recalled earlier Monday from Triple-A Columbus to make his first major league appearance since Aug. 26, Cantillo retired the first 20 batters he faced.
Andrew Benintendi spoiled Cantillo’s bid for a perfect game when he grounded a single into right with two outs in the seventh. Benintendi scored on Andrew Vaughn’s single later in the inning.
Cantillo gave up the one run and two hits in seven innings to go along with 10 strikeouts and no walks.
Bryan Ramos drilled a two-run homer in the eighth inning, the first long ball of his career, to draw the White Sox within 5-3. The Guardians’ bullpen recovered, though, with Emmanuel Clase working around a two-out single in the ninth for his 43rd save of the year.
Chicago must win 10 of its remaining 17 games to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets for the most single-season losses in modern baseball history (120).
Cleveland outhit Chicago 8-5, and the White Sox went with a bullpen game. The Guardians rallied for a pair of runs against opener Jared Shuster with two outs in the first inning, as Josh Naylor singled home Steven Kwan before scoring on a Lane Thomas double.
Fry connected for a solo homer to center field in the third. Bo Naylor gave the Guardians homers in consecutive innings when he smacked a solo shot in the fourth.
Shuster (1-4) allowed three runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings, striking out five without issuing a walk.
The Guardians grabbed a 5-0 lead in the fifth on a Jhonkensy Noel bases-loaded walk. Josh and Bo Naylor each had two hits.
