White Sox 4, Brewers 3: Giolito, Jiménez lead the way to victory

Eloy’s two-run double made a big difference in this tight game

The White Sox (5-1) grinded out a close win against the Brewers (3-1) at American Family Fields of Phoenix to continue their fast start to Spring Training.

Starting pitchers Lucas Giolito and Jason Alexander did their jobs nicely, with Giolito pitching three scoreless innings and Alexander pitching two shutout innings. The only Brewers to reach base against Giolito were Pablo Reyes, who singled, and Lorenzo Cain, who walked.

The White Sox’s bats woke up in the top of the third against Milwaukee reliever Devin Williams. Leury García opened that inning with a dreaded leadoff walk, and Josh Harrison wasted no time driving him in. Harrison’s double to right field made the score 1-0, and though it was a close game, the South Siders led the rest of the way.

New acquisition Kendall Graveman, who entered the game in relief for Giolito in the fourth, pitched an excellent inning. Graveman retired all three batters he faced, with two strikeouts and a simple 1-3 assist.

The White Sox added some insurance runs in an eventful sixth inning. Tim Anderson led off with a single, and he advanced to second on a ground out by Luis Robert. After José Abreu walked, Yoán Moncada struck out, so the outcome of the inning was up to Eloy Jiménez. In a high-leverage situation, Jiménez delivered with a two-run double that tripled the South Siders’ lead.

Right after Eloy’s double, Nick Ciuffo tacked on another run with a double of his own to increase the lead to four.

Dallas Keuchel ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth after he delivered a scoreless fifth inning on the mound. After Keuchel struck out Garrett Mitchell to open the sixth, he allowed the next three Brewers to reach base (two singles and a walk). Two of these runners would score, so by the end of the inning, Milwaukee had cut the deficit in half.

The seventh inning was also a struggle for Keuchel, who allowed a ground-rule double to Tyler White to open that frame. White would later score on an RBI single by Corey Ray, which made it 4-3.

However, Aaron Bummer and Kyle Crick delivered scoreless relief appearances down the stretch to secure the win. Still trailing by a score of 4-3, the Brewers threatened to score in the ninth, as Ray singled with two outs to put runners on the corners. But, Crick struck out Brice Turang to seal the deal.

The White Sox will be back in action tomorrow against the Rangers. That game is scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m. CST at Surprise Stadium. Lance Lynn is the probable starter for the White Sox, while Glenn Otto will likely start on the mound for Texas.