White Sox Lose 6-3 to Guardians as 4-Run Sixth Costs Them AL Central Lead
Updated
Updated · Chicago Tribune · Sep 16
White Sox Lose 6-3 to Guardians as 4-Run Sixth Costs Them AL Central Lead
3 articles · Updated · Chicago Tribune · Sep 16
Summary
Cleveland’s 6-3 win pushed the Guardians a half-game ahead of Chicago, ending the White Sox’s hold on at least a share of the AL Central lead since July 4.
Four sixth-inning runs decided it: Hagen Smith and Sean Newcomb combined for four walks, and Petey Halpin’s three-run homer turned a 3-2 Chicago lead into a 5-3 Cleveland advantage.
Tommy Pham, activated from the injured list Wednesday, briefly put the Sox ahead with a three-run homer in the fifth, but Chicago finished just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Chicago has lost 12 of its last 17 games but still owns the season-series tiebreaker over Cleveland 7-6 and holds the No. 3 AL wild card by 1 1/2 games over Texas.
With 10 games left, the White Sox head into a four-game series against Detroit chasing their first division title since 2021 while also trying to protect their playoff spot.