Nothing was settled until the final swing. Brayan Rocchio drove a two-run home run to right field in the ninth inning, sending the Cleveland Guardians to a 6-5 walkoff win over the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field before 22,556 fans.
Rocchio finished 1-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBI. His homer — 380 feet to right — scored Daniel Schneemann and turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 final. It was his sixth home run of the season. David Fry also contributed a solo shot to left in the seventh, a 387-foot blast that pulled Cleveland within one. Travis Bazzana went 2-for-3 with two walks and an RBI, providing the early offensive spark.
Cleveland struck first in the third. Bazzana doubled to right, scoring Patrick Bailey, then Brayan Rocchio walked to bring Bazzana home and push the lead to 2-0. Chicago answered in the fifth, when Sam Antonacci's double to left scored Tristan Peters, and Kyle Teel's double to right scored both Antonacci and Miguel Vargas to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead. Chase Meidroth extended that advantage in the sixth with a two-run homer to right — 349 feet — scoring Braden Montgomery and making it 5-2. Cleveland chipped away: Gabriel Arias scored on a DeLauter groundout in the sixth, and Fry's homer in the seventh made it 5-4. Then came the ninth.
Slade Cecconi started for Cleveland and allowed 5 runs on 9 hits over 5.0 innings, striking out 3 and walking 1. The bullpen held Chicago scoreless the rest of the way. Grant Taylor took the loss for Chicago, allowing 2 runs in 1.1 innings pitched, falling to 4-2 on the season with a 3.02 ERA. Tim Herrin earned his first win of the season, working a scoreless eighth inning — 1.0 innings, no hits, one strikeout.
Cleveland improved to 44-42, snapping a two-game losing streak. Chicago fell to 45-39, their two-game winning streak ended. Tim Herrin is 10 games away from 200 career appearances.