Nothing separated the teams for long on Tuesday night in Chicago. The lead changed hands three times in six innings before Miguel Vargas settled it with one swing.
Sean Burke held Cleveland to 1 run on 6 hits over 6.1 innings, striking out 6 and walking 1 on 90 pitches. He picked up his fifth win of the season against four losses, carrying a 3.71 ERA. Sean Newcomb finished the final 2.2 innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out 2, earning his second save of the year.
Colson Montgomery broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Randal Grichuk scored on his single to right, giving CWS a 1-0 lead. Cleveland answered in the fifth as Kahlil Watson homered to right, a 373-foot shot that tied the game at 1-1. Then in the sixth, Vargas ended the back-and-forth with a solo homer to left, 376 feet, to put Chicago ahead 2-1 for good. It was his 17th home run of the season.
Parker Messick was sharp in a losing effort. The Cleveland left-hander struck out 10 and allowed just 3 hits over 7.2 innings, but the two runs he surrendered proved to be enough. He fell to 7-4 with a 2.67 ERA. Watson finished 2-for-4 with the homer, his first of the season, though Cleveland's offense managed only one run despite six hits on the night.
Chicago improved to 40-37 with the victory. Cleveland dropped to 41-38, losing for the second straight game.