Sanchez, Chicago walk off after Sale-Kluber duel
CHICAGO -- A mound matchup between Corey Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner, and Chris Sale, who finished third in the voting, completely lived up to expectations in Monday's series opener between the Indians and White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
Both starters pitched brilliantly, but neither one figured in the 2-1 White Sox victory in 10 innings. The win was the sixth straight for manager Robin Ventura's crew and put it over .500 for the first time since it was 31-30 on June 4 of last season.
Zach McAllister suffered the walk-off loss, courtesy of Carlos Sanchez's two-out, 0-2 single to left, after issuing a free pass to Avisail Garcia on four pitches to start the frame and then allowing Conor Gillaspie's single. Garcia was replaced by J.B. Shuck at first after grimacing on the fourth pitch outside the zone from McAllister because of right knee inflammation. Shuck scored the game-winning run.
Kluber, who fanned 18 and allowed one hit over eight innings in his last start against the Cardinals, was almost as good on Monday. He struck out 12 over nine, walked one and yielded one run on five hits, with that one run scoring on a wild pitch off of a Jose Abreu swing and miss and Adam Eaton's aggressive baserunning from third in the sixth.
Video: CLE@CWS: Eaton scores tying run on wild pitch
"As soon as I saw the ball kind of going over, I took a little slide step and then broke for home," Eaton said. "Sometimes you gotta be risky, especially when there's a guy on the mound that's throwing the ball real well, and it paid off."
Sale worked eight innings, giving up one run in the third on a Jose Ramirez sacrifice fly. The southpaw struck out seven, walked two and allowed just four hits before giving way to David Robertson in the ninth. Two of those four hits were of the infield variety.
Video: CLE@CWS: Sale allows one earned over eight strong
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Be aggressive: Scoring chances weren't going to be too plentiful in this contest, so Eaton's calculated risk in the sixth was understandable. He broke for home on a pitch from Kluber that barely got away from catcher Roberto Perez, and scored with a headfirst slide to tie the game. Eaton would have been out if Perez hung on to the baseball, but Perez also seemed briefly stunned that Eaton was making the attempt. More >
"I don't know that I've ever seen somebody score on a passed ball that doesn't reach the grass. That's impressive," White Sox designated hitter Adam LaRoche said of Eaton. "It's one of those that especially with the guy hitting [Abreu], if it doesn't work out, it's not smart. When it does, it's a great play."
Small ball: The Indians grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to some fundamental execution. Catcher Perez led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by Jason Kipnis and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ramirez.
Video: CLE@CWS: Ramirez drives in game's first run
Keep them close: Cleveland had a chance to grab what would seem like an insurmountable multi-run lead with runners on first and second and two outs in the fourth. But Zach Walters' long drive to center off of Sale was hauled in by Eaton on the run to keep the Indians off the scoreboard.
Video: CLE@CWS: Eaton runs down Walters' line drive in 4th
"We're picking up momentum. I think we're all starting to get confident," Sale said. "We've always believed in each other but I think we're starting to believe in ourselves."
QUOTABLE
"I think Klu's biggest thing when he goes out there to pitch is if we win. I think he was more concerned that we weren't winning his games because he cares." -- Indians manager Terry Francona, on Kluber going winless in his first seven starts this season
"It's not a comfortable at-bat when you go up there and tell yourself, 'If I make contact here, I'm doing pretty good.' I really don't like that feeling. That's kind of what I got tonight off of Kluber. That was about as good as I've ever seen." -- LaRoche, on Kluber
"He has the nastiest stuff I've ever seen, really." -- Sale, on Kluber
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Kluber's 30 strikeouts in consecutive starts is the most in the Major Leagues since Randy Johnson had 30 in July 2001. Earlier that season, Johnson had 32 combined strikeouts in two May starts. The Indians' record for strikeouts in consecutive games is 32 by Luis Tiant on June 29 and July 3, 1968. Kluber also had a combined 28 strikeouts in consecutive starts on Sept. 16 and 21 of last season.
ABREU IS STREAKING
White Sox slugger Abreu extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a fourth-inning single. He is the only player in baseball to record four hitting streaks of 12 or more games over the last two seasons.
WHAT'S NEXT
Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (2-1, 3.67 ERA) pitches the second installment in the four-game series for the Tribe Tuesday in an 8:10 ET start. Bauer has not allowed a run in two road starts this season, including seven scoreless innings against Chicago on April 20.
White Sox: Jose Quintana struck out 10 while holding the Brewers to one run in seven innings in a victory in his last start. Quintana picked up his first win since April 14 and carries a career 4-0 record with a 2.94 ERA against the Indians into Tuesday night's contest.
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