Levine: White Sox's Big 7th Inning Provides Support Chris Sale Needs
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On a frigid 32-degree Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field, a two-run homer by Mike Napoli and a solo shot from Yan Gomes appeared to put the Indians in position to take a win from White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, but Chicago bailed its ace out. The White Sox hitters put up a crooked number with a five-run seventh inning to get Sale his second win of the season.
"It may or may not been different in the past," Sale said of his team clawing back for a 7-3 win. "I think we all know what is going on in here. We keep grinding until the last out."
Chicago weather makes baseball fans tough and opponents cringe in the first month of the season, and that was certainly the case Saturday as the White Sox improved to 4-2.
"The weather is not that big an issue for the pitchers as it is for the hitters," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "The ball in the field is tough. You pick up a ball in the outfield, it's like throwing a snow ball or hockey puck. It's just harder to play defense than anything else."
It was so cold that the White Sox organization offered a gift certificate or a free upper-deck seat in the future to all of the fans who braved the cold on Saturday.
"It was as cold as I ever pitched in," Sale said. "I told John Danks it was like getting punched in the face. You never get used to it, but you keep pushing through it."
Sale started off with a little command issue. A walk and a base hit were sandwiched around two strikeouts and in a 25-pitch first inning. He settled down and threw five shutout innings before the Napoli home run in the sixth. Gomes' long ball came in the seventh and gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead.
"The one to Napoli was a first pitch change-up -- I just left it up," Sale said. "The next one was a two-seamer down in the zone. I didn't get it down quite enough. That kind of stuff will happen. You just try to roll with it and get better."
Indians starter Cody Anderson allowed two runs in six innings, including Jose Abreu's second home run of the season. After he left, the White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in their half of the seventh off of reliever Bryan Shaw. They scored one on a Todd Frazier fielder's choice and the go-ahead run on Melky Cabrera's single.
With two outs, Avisail Garcia took Shaw out into the right-field bullpen for three more runs. It was the first home run for Garcia this season.
The five-run outburst made a winner out of Sale, who pitched seven innings. He threw 107 pitches, giving up three runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six. The energy from his teammates helped keep Sale going and has been a factor that he traced back to spring training.
Sale singled out new second baseman Brett Lawrie as the "Energizer Bunny" of this revamped club.
"I am just being me," Lawrie said. "I am not trying to do something special around here. I am just glad it's being perceived well. For some people, it can be miscued, like I am trying to do that. All I am doing is being myself."
Chicago's seven runs were its most of 2016, and its five-run seventh inning was its biggest of the season.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
