Sizzling Jake Burger hits 1 of 3 Chicago White Sox home runs in a 7-2 victory against the Cleveland Guardians
Luis Robert Jr.’s home run streak came to an end.
But Jake Burger continued his tear, homering for his third straight game.
It was one of three homers for the Chicago White Sox, who utilized the long ball to beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 in front of 12,241 on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Hitting is contagious,” Burger said. “All the guys are piecing good at-bats together and making solid contact. It just keeps rolling. The lineup is deep, and so one through nine there could be damage done. The starting pitcher has to dial it for all nine.
“We are piecing them together. It’s really exciting and really fun.”
Gavin Sheets hit a solo homer in the second, his second consecutive game with a home run.
Andrew Vaughn led off the fourth with a home run, and Burger hit a two-run homer later in the inning.
The Sox have outhomered the Guardians 6-0 in the first two games of the series.
It’s the first time the Sox have hit at least three homers in consecutive games since Aug. 8-9, 2021, against the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins (four in both).
“We’re swinging the bats really well,” said Sheets, who was 1-for-4 and got ejected for the first time in his big-league career arguing a called strike three in the seventh. “It’s an extremely deep lineup. With Burger hitting eighth and hitting the ball the way he’s doing it, it shows how deep we are.
“We’re starting to drive the baseball the way this lineup is capable of doing it, and it’s pretty special.”
The Sox showed their pop without Robert, who went 0-for-4 and saw his home run streak end at four games. That was one shy of tying the team record, accomplished seven times, including twice by Frank Thomas in 1994. A.J. Pierzynski is the most recent Sox player to homer in five straight games on July 30-Aug. 5, 2012.
It wasn’t all homers for the Sox, who had 12 hits. Burger went 3-for-4, coming a double shy of the cycle.
“His bat-to-ball skills are really good,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s got pop, obviously. He can run. He’s becoming a really good major-league hitter.”
Tim Anderson had two hits and one RBI. Andrew Benintendi had two hits, one RBI and scored once. Yasmani Grandal singled twice before leaving after his sixth-inning hit.
“(Grandal) is going to be day to day; his legs are a little sore,” Grifol said. “We need his bat. We choose to put him in. We know that he’s not going to be able to give us much running. And we know that any point during the game that we might have to replace him with Seby (Zavala).
“But we choose to do that. We choose to have his bat in the lineup, and if we have to replace him, we replace him.”
Mike Clevinger benefited from all the offense, earning the victory against his former team. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks in six-plus innings.
“It feels like all our games are starting to come together, hitting, pitching, defense,” Clevinger said.
He escaped a jam in the fourth, after the first two reached with singles, with a double play and a strikeout.
“He made pitches when he really had to make some pitches,” Grifol said.
Clevinger exited after loading the bases with no outs in the seventh. Leading 7-1, the Sox called on Reynaldo López.
Amed Rosario struck out and Andrés Giménez popped up to shallow left field, where third baseman Yoán Moncada made a spectacular catch and the runners remained in place.
“There’s only a handful of third basemen that can make that play,” Grifol said.
López walked Josh Bell to bring in a run but struck out Will Brennan to limit the damage. The Guardians went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position as the Sox put themselves in position for their first sweep of the season.
“This two-week stretch (against division opponents) is extremely important for us,” Sheets said. “It’s going to be crucial for this season. There’s a sense of urgency in this clubhouse and we have to come out every night ready to play.”
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