{"id":740120,"date":"2026-07-03T03:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740120\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T03:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:23:16","slug":"rocchio-guardians-walk-off-with-al-central-showdown-win-over-chisox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740120\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocchio, Guardians walk off with AL Central showdown win over ChiSox"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND —Brayan Rocchio<\/a> hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> a 6-5 victory<\/a> over the Chicago White Sox<\/a> on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series between the top two teams in the AL Central.<\/p>\n

Cleveland (46-42) rallied from a three-run deficit and trails Chicago (45-41) by less than a full percentage point atop the division standings.<\/p>\n

Pinch-hitter David Fry<\/a> launched a solo homer in the seventh that trimmed the Guardians’ deficit to 5-4.<\/p>\n

White Sox reliever Grant Taylor<\/a> (4-2) walked Rhys Hoskins<\/a> leading off the ninth. Kahlil Watson<\/a> flied out to center before Rocchio pulled a 99 mph fastball down the right-field line for his sixth home run this season.<\/p>\n

Tim Herrin<\/a> (1-3) pitched a perfect inning for the win.<\/p>\n

Travis Bazzana<\/a> hit an RBI double and Rocchio drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Sam Antonacci<\/a> delivered an RBI double and scored on Kyle Teel<\/a>‘s two-run double to put Chicago ahead 3-2 in the fifth.<\/p>\n

Braden Montgomery<\/a> doubled leading off the sixth and Chase Meidroth<\/a>‘s two-run homer made it 5-2, chasing Guardians starter Slade Cecconi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daniel Espino<\/a>, Shawn Armstrong<\/a> and Herrin combined to allow one hit in four innings of scoreless relief.<\/p>\n

Cleveland loaded the bases against reliever Sean Newcomb<\/a> in the sixth and cut it to 5-3 on an RBI groundout by Chase DeLauter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fry connected off Brandon Eisert<\/a> in the seventh for his second pinch-hit homer this year.<\/p>\n

White Sox starter Davis Martin<\/a> gave up two runs and six hits in 3 1\/3 innings without striking out a batter. He walked five and threw only 37 of his 73 pitches for strikes.<\/p>\n

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