Hamilton, O’Neill Drive In Runs In The 12th Inning To Lift Red Sox Over Marlins 6-5
CLEVELAND -- — All-Star Steven Kwan homered, went 3 for 4 with two RBI and officially took over as the majors' leading hitter while sending the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
Kwan connected for his eighth homer leading off the third inning against Justin Anderson as the AL Central-leading Guardians took two of three in the series and improved baseball's best home record to 28-10.
Although his average has been over .350 for most of the season — he recently flirted with .400 — Kwan didn't have enough at-bats to qualify for the MLB lead after missing a month with a hamstring injury.
He's now batting .367 — 48 points ahead of Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is second and played Thursday night. Kwan also has 12 three-hit games, the most in the AL.
“It's really cool,” Kwan said when asked about being the game's leading hitter. "It’s a bigger indicator that the injury’s kind of behind now. That was a big thing. That was kind of not my identity, but that was definitely a big thing on my mind.
“It’s nice to see there’s some space between me and the injury.”
On Wednesday, the 26-year-old Kwan was named an All-Star starter for the first time. In the series finale, he also drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has run out of superlatives to describe his left fielder
“Kwannie just continues to dazzle,” Vogt said.
Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor and Andrés Giménez drove in two runs apiece for Cleveland.
Ben Lively (8-4) limited the White Sox to three runs and six hits in six innings. The right-hander, whose signing as a free agent in December barely made a ripple, is 5-0 in six starts at Progressive Field.
He's the first Cleveland starter to win five consecutive home starts since Corey Kluber in 2016.
Lively, who spent three years pitching in Korea, has allowed three runs or less in 13 of his 14 starts. He entered the season with just eight wins.
When he signed, the Guardians told him to expect to pitch in long relief. He has taken the starter's role and run with it.
“I could have been here for two weeks,” he said. “It’s just the way it goes. I just don’t want to look back.”
Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer and Lenyn Sosa a solo shot for the White Sox, who lost their ninth consecutive road series and fell to 25-64 —- 31 games behind Cleveland.
Kwan opened the third with a towering shot into the right-field seats. He hit just 11 homers combined in his first two seasons, but has focused on pulling inside pitches.
The Guardians tacked on three more runs in the third against Anderson as manager Pedro Grifol went with a bullpen game in the series finale.
Kwan, who has been in a bit of a slump lately (he came in 5 for 28 in his last seven games), singled in his first at-bat. The Guardians threatened to have a big first inning against Sox starter Jared Shuster (1-1) but only scored once on Josh Naylor's RBI single.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: RHP Mike Clevinger will make a rehab start on Friday for Triple-A Charlotte. Clevinger was initially sidelined by right elbow issue before his neck flared up. Barring a setback, he's expected to rejoin the rotation next week.
Guardians: Reliever Nick Sandlin (back inflammation) was activated from the injured list, giving manager Stephen Vogt back one of his key bullpen pieces. He gave up a homer in the ninth. To make roster space, right-hander Eli Morgan was optioned to Triple-A Columbus. ... OF Will Brennan (rib cage inflammation) remains sidelined with an injury that wasn't expected to keep him out long.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Head to Miami for a three-game series with RHP Drew Thorpe (2-1, 4.43 ERA) starting the opener.
Guardians: RHP Tanner Bibee (7-2, 3.47) starts the opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, who have won 13 of 15 against Cleveland since the start of the 2021 season.
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Kensington K55805ww Ergonomic Memory Foam Seat 1405545 6451610cv16d Chair 1800px 142478 Ts 8966eb83 32ab 4c83 B065 5ce07a0b696e.4a0834be11b27338b485c7e110a368c7 ?odnWidth=1000&odnHeight=1000&odnBg=ffffff2555cf7d 9977 458f Adb5 1aced95f26db 1.a2170fa2fddb598c27e7b9688f20ec48 81cV9Pxp3FL. AC SL1500 61D1fwZic0L. AC SL1200 91rOQiF9jTL 07cbfc0a 7a74 4af3 9b89 643f62c7ade1.94e045dc081b7f7b0ca754881f5693c6 610uKB BTGL 71MEhZaYxfL. AC SL1500 Amazon Memory Foam Seat Cushion By Larnn DMID1 5f7aij0v2 640x480 Prod 7046314802?src=https Webstoregroup.s3.amazonaws.com Productimages 14951 1 &d=4647bbd2d65214c54fe34b356a94bf1a9419f8d6&hei=245&wid=245&op Sharpen=1&qlt=8581W3NgbUdIL 235338190 474194eb 4f7e 4980 A6b9 655ae45307be 1.8a8e4f67a680c65e0c7491c9ea35ce6c 9643e99b8026a6bde0b453125c9b36fb860d1561 61obepcfu3L. AC SL1000 5785100b31f812 2791 4f2e Aa9c D7048f79bb26 1.1cf3f0cc3a7b2b2c9af3954da03651a1 SC1N 3 1 副本2 Scaled 6c698aa153725a4ed9fc4f924ec6a0bf 71M3nqlsHNL Amazon Memory Foam Seat Cushion By ComfiLife DMID1 5i8yqz1og 640x480 71PRAKI16qL A044523b2faf74c04998e318269e7d6adV 193515bb A7dc 4356 86af Dc4394e22fd2 1.df113fa8984b9804c043dcfd97849fba ?odnWidth=1000&odnHeight=1000&odnBg=ffffffF069dcc0cdac10547cca1fce0b7e2dfe 61TidDs YvL. AC SL1001 A20fa6981d1474415bbee1c717ad76a67I H204319.00129061331997 84b771c8a6 B Black Comfilife Chair Pads R 200 Blk 64 600