Field Level Media
May 13, 2018
Matt Davidson homered and knocked in two runs Sunday, including the tie-breaking run, as the Chicago White Sox avoided a series sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs with a 5-3 win at Wrigley Field.
Lucas Giolito (2-4) survived seven walks and five stolen bases in his 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. Giolito allowed only two hits and three runs, recording three strikeouts. Three relievers obtained the last 10 outs, with Bruce Rondon working the ninth inning for his first save.
Kyle Hendricks (3-3) was tagged with the loss for the Cubs, yielding six hits and four runs, three earned, over six innings. Hendricks fanned six and walked none, but it wasn't enough to extend their five-game winning streak.
It was just the 10th win in 37 games for the White Sox, which entered the game with a minus-69 run differential and the worst record in the majors.
Things started no better in the first when Giolito threw 17 of his first 24 pitches outside the strike zone, walking two, tossing two wild pitches and ceding a stolen base. Javier Baez cashed in that largesse, lacing a 3-0 pitch to left-center for a two-run single.
Davidson halved the lead in the second, pouncing on a poorly-located changeup by Hendricks and launching a 414-foot blast to left-center for his 11th homer of the year.
Yolmer Sanchez evened the score in the third when he lofted a two-out RBI single to center that plated Adam Engel. The Cubs regained the lead in the fourth when Ian Happ drilled a run-scoring double off the wall in right-center that chased Kyle Schwarber home.
But the White Sox took the lead for good in the sixth. Nicky Delmonico ripped a triple off the wall in right-center that scored Jose Abreu with the tying run. Davidson followed with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left-center that made it 4-3.
Leury Garcia's pinch-hit single in the seventh plated Tim Anderson to cap the scoring.
--Field Level Media