MLB

Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox

· Major League Baseball
Chicago White Sox
59-96, 29-51 Away
Final
1 - 0
Boston Red Sox
76-79, 39-39 Home

Robert hits 311-foot homer in 9th to snap scoreless tie and give White Sox 1-0 win over Red Sox

Heck, it might not have even gotten high enough to clear Fenway Park's 37-foot Green Monster in left.

But the White Sox slugger's curving liner found the front row of the right field seats beyond Fenway's Pesky Pole in the ninth inning of a scoreless game on Saturday to give Chicago a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

“It was hilarious because he’s got (38) home runs and all that, and then he hits one 311,” said Dylan Cease, who struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings to surpass 200 strikeouts for the third straight season. “Baseball is funny like that sometimes.”

Playing in a cold rain, with the wind blowing in at a steady 10 mph, Cease and Boston starter Nick Pivetta matched scoreless innings before both departed after seven. Aaron Bummer (5-5) pitched the eighth for Chicago, walking the first two batters before retiring the heart of the Boston order to escape.

Bryan Shaw got the last three outs for his third save, striking out Ceddanne Rafaela with runners on first and second to end it.

Josh Winckowski (4-3) struck out three in two innings after relieving Pivetta, allowing two hits, including the curling line drive that found the first row of seats — just beyond the foul pole that is 302 feet from home plate. Robert called the foul pole “the best,” saying it made up for a couple of much longer drives in Baltimore last month that stayed in play.

“It’s gotten us a few times, but today it helped us,” Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said. “This is a really nice place to play, and it’s got so many different things going on in the ballpark that it’s really cool. And that’s one of them today. Today, it helped us.”

Masataka Yoshida had three hits for Boston but grounded out to end the eighth with runners on first and second. Boston stranded 10 runners — going 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The last-place Red Sox are playing for a chance to finish above .500 and to catch the rival Yankees and avoid finishing last in the AL East for the third time in four seasons. Chicago, which is all-but locked into fourth place in the AL Central, snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 12 games.

NOTHING DOING

Pivetta held the White Sox hitless until Andrew Benintendi singled to lead off the fourth inning. In all, the Red Sox right-hander allowed three hits and a walk while striking out seven. Cease also pitched seven scoreless, allowing six hits for his 17th career double-digit strikeout game, and his fourth this season.

The 11 strikeouts left the Chicago righty with 207 for the season. He is the third White Sox pitcher to top 200 for three straight seasons, joining Chris Sale, who did it four times from 2013-16, and Hall of Famer Ed Walsh (1910-12).

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Reinstated closer Kenley Jansen from the COVID-19 injured list and optioned RHP Zack Weiss to Triple-A Worcester.

UP NEXT

Finale of the three-game series. RHP Mike Clevinger (8-8) will face Boston RHP Kutter Crawford (6-7).

How can I watch Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox?
  • TV Channel: White Sox at Red Sox 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Red Sox: 60.8%
White Sox: 39.2%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Rafaela struck out swinging.
9th Inning Wong ran for McGuire
9th Inning McGuire singled to left, Reyes to second.
9th Inning Dalbec struck out swinging.
9th Inning Reyes ran for Valdez
9th Inning Valdez singled to left.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/chw.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHW https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
10 Ground Balls 5
10 Strikeouts 14
1 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
5 Hits 8
0 Stolen Bases 0
1 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 1
1 Runs 0
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
31 At Bats 34
1 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
7 Runners Left On Base 19
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 3
11 Fly Balls 15
1 Caught Stealing 0
121 Pitches 157
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
8 Total Bases 11
32 Plate Appearances 37
162.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
1 Extra Base Hits 3
0.7 Runs Created 3.0
.161 Batting Average .235
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.258 Slugging Percentage .324
.097 Secondary Average .147
.188 On Base Percentage .278
.446 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .601
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.3
0.7 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 3.2
12.0 Batter Rating 14.0
31.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.78 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.24
.097 Isolated Power .088
0.10 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.14
.031 Walks Per Plate Appearance .054
-.065 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.088
2.0 Runs Produced 0.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.4
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.4
65.0 MLB Rating 68.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Fenway Park

Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 33,392 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3
Full Standings