It’s the type of win teams remember when building a successful season.
The Chicago White Sox were down but not out Saturday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Trailing by a run entering the ninth, the White Sox rallied to tie the game. They went ahead in the 10th with RBI hits by José Abreu and Luis Robert and held on for an impressive 3-1 comeback victory in front of 33,026.
“We had a really rough April and to win this kind of game gives us hope,” Robert said through an interpreter. “Our hope is up, our confidence is up. Everything is up.”
The White Sox were down 1-0 going into the ninth. Jake Burger walked and Adam Engel doubled, giving them runners on second and third with no outs. Burger scored on second baseman Leury García’s sacrifice fly to right.
Robert made a nice play running down Christian Vázquez’s hit in the gap in the bottom of the ninth, limiting him to a double and making Jackie Bradley Jr. stop at third.
“As soon as I saw the ball hit, I knew it was a fast runner on first so I did my best to get to the ball and get it back to the field,” Robert said.
The hit gave the Red Sox runners on second and third with one out. But Reynaldo López struck out Bobby Dalbec looking and Trevor Story popped out to García.
“I tried to calm down and relax and tried to make a pitch so I could get out of it,” López said through an interpreter.
AJ Pollock began the 10th at second and Abreu drove him home with a double, his second hit of the game. Robert followed with an RBI single, making it 3-1.
“My mentality was try to move Abreu to third base and I got lucky and got a base hit and found a hole,” Robert said.
Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect 10th for his ninth save as the White Sox won their fifth straight.
“It was one of those games you need to battle,” Sox starter Dylan Cease said. “To do it late shows we didn’t give up and we fought to the end and got it done.”
The Sox went 8-12 in April but have rebounded early in May to return to .500 (13-13).
“After a bad month, to win these games playing the way we have been playing with pitching, defense, hitting at the right moment, it’s something we need as a team,” López said.
Starting pitching was the story early with Cease allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in five innings. He exited after throwing 101 pitches.
“I was mixing pretty well,” he said. “I wasn’t the sharpest with my command but I was able to mix and grind and keep us in it.”
Cease’s outing was the latest successful start for the White Sox. Coming in, White Sox starters had a 2.51 ERA with a .197 opponents average and 65 strikeouts in the last 11 games. They allowed 16 earned runs in 57⅓ innings in that time.
More pitching depth could be on the way during this stretch of 18 games in 17 days with veteran Johnny Cueto continuing to work at Triple-A Charlotte.
Dallas Keuchel, Michael Kopech and Lucas Giolito are the probable pitchers for the next three games. Wednesday’s starter is to be determined, with Vince Velasquez — who has been impressive winning his last two starts — and Cueto among the options.
Saturday the starter and relievers came through, along with some late clutch at-bats to give the White Sox a standout victory.
“There was so many key moments because it was such a close game,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “The biggest impression I got was we really worked to win that game. (The Red Sox) did too, but we were really working to win and we got rewarded.
“All game long we kept trying to push and (Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta) shut us out. We kept pushing and (had) that late rally and the team was rewarded for trying so hard. It makes it extra special. It proves what I’ve been telling you all about them all along: heart, guts, talent.”
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