The White Sox managed only four hits Sunday afternoon, but they made them count, and the final one set off an on-field celebration. Matt Davidson belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to send Chicago to a 3-1 walk-off win over the Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The victory — the first at home for Chicago since July 2, when Jose Quintana (now with the Cubs) notched the win and David Robertson (now with the Yankees) the save — snapped Cleveland’s nine-game winning streak. Moments after Jose Abreu’s one-out double, Davidson hit his 21st homer over the center-field fence off reliever Bryan Shaw.
“It was really cool,” Davidson said. “It was my first time doing that. I was trying to drive [Abreu] in. It’s been a rough go for us, so to get that feeling and get that win was huge. Shaw has a really good cutter, throws it a lot. Wanted to see one in the zone. He left one in there, and I got it.”
Josh Tomlin started for the Indians, but tightness in his left hamstring forced him out of the game after four no-hit innings. It represented the third time in Chicago’s past five games that an opposing pitcher carried a no-hitter through four. This time, though, reliever Nick Goody was asked to pick up where Tomlin left off.
Goody struck out the first five batters he faced before flinching in the sixth. White Sox outfielder Leury Garcia — inserted into the lineup in place of Melky Cabrera, who was traded to the Royals before the game — ended Goody’s run by sending a 1-2 pitch into the right-field stands for a game-tying solo homer.
“I wanted to keep going,” said Tomlin, who will know more about the severity of his injury Monday. “I understand we’re short-handed in the bullpen, so you never want to put them in a bind. But you also don’t want to go out there and cost your team a game by trying to compensate either. It’s kind of a tough situation you’re put in.”
Due to Tomlin’s early exit, Indians manager Terry Francona used Goody, Dan Otero and Shaw for multiple innings.
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