The Guardians complete the sweep, as the White Sox continue to play subpar baseball

Nothing went right for Chicago in the first series with Cleveland, dropping the finale, 6-1

The Guardians pulled off an easy sweep, pushing the White Sox down even more in the division. It might only be April, but it’s going to be a brutal season for Our Guys in the American League Central. Let’s get into the gritty details.

Nick Maton got a bloop single leading off the game, as three Guardians players were unable to field what is normally an easy pop-out. (A good spot to insert that in all three games, Cleveland tried hard to hand wins to the White Sox, but the Sox just wouldn’t take them.) After two wild pitches, Maton was able to advance to third, and then home when Matt Thaiss drew a walk. Alas, Thaiss was unsuccessful in trying to swipe second, ending the inning.

Steven Kwan wasted no time in fighting back, with a single to right off the first pitch. With two outs, Cleveland took the lead back with a two-run homer from Kyle Manzardo. Jonathan Cannon was able to regain control by striking out Nolan Jones to end the first inning, but Cleveland would never look back.

Austin Slater and Lenyn Sosa both singled to start the second, but were left stranded. The bottom of the second was quick and easy for the White Sox, with batters retired in order.

Unfortunately, like the previous inning with the Guardians’ offense, the White Sox were retired in order to start the third. Brayan Rocchio doubled for Cleveland and Kwan further hurt the White Sox with a two-run blast making it 4-1 in the third, with nobody out. Cannon gave up his first walk, to Carlos Santana with one out. Manzardo was thankfully shut down after what could’ve been another two-run smash, and Jones struck out swinging for the second time.

The White Sox extended their streak of doing absolutely nothing of value in the fourth. Jhonkensy Noel singled to start the bottom of the fourth. Bo Naylor drew a walk, and Sosa botched a routine play allowing Daniel Schneemann to reach first to load the bases with no outs. Sosa redeemed himself by gloving a hit from Rocchio, but bases remained loaded for Kwan. With an RBI single, the Guardians tacked on another run and kept the bases loaded, this time for José Ramírez. In an impressive feat, Cannon took Ramírez on strikes and Sosa scooped up a grounder to get Santana out, escaping the based-loaded jam and ending the inning.

Michael A. Taylor drew a one-out walk in the fifth, but Amaya and Maton left him stranded after being called out on strikes.

Cannon kept the Guardians off the board, which included yet another strikeout for Jones.

The White Sox were retired in order for the top of the sixth. To add to their misfortune, the wheels started falling off for Cannon in the bottom half. He gave up a single to Naylor and balked. Rocchio walked with one out, and out came Will Venable to pull his pitcher. Bryse Wilson came in with runners in the corners and just one out. Kwan managed another RBI single on a bunt, sending Naylor home and making the game 6-1. Ramírez was robbed of a hit by Slater and in a fun turn of events, Rocchio was caught trying to steal home, ending the inning.

The seventh started with two quick fly outs from the Sox and a ground out from Brooks Baldwin. With two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh, Jones finally hit the ball for a single. Noel stranded Jones to end the inning.

Despite a walk, the White Sox once again looked flat in the top of the eighth. There was a single in the bottom for the Guardians, but they otherwise stayed quiet.

Thaiss managed to get on base for the second time with a hard-hit, one-out double and after being down in strikes, Sosa singled, now putting runners in the corners. But Baldwin’s hit fell into a glove of Noel and the game ended in favor of Cleveland.

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