Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Guardians

Brayan Rocchio stood in the left-handed batter’s box for a few moments, watching the fly ball he hit off Grant Taylor carry deep down the right-field line. The Guardians’ shortstop knew he had hit it well, but could not tell whether it would remain fair. Rocchio didn’t have to wait too long. The drive clanged off the right-field foul pole, sending Progressive Field into a frenzy and the Guardians home with a memorable 6-5 comeback victory over the White Sox in the opener of a four-game series. “We fight until the last out,” Rocchio said. “That's our identity, fighting to the last out.” Thursday’s blast marked Rocchio’s second career walk-off homer, following Sept. 28 last season -- in Game 162 as Cleveland celebrated winning the AL Central division title. The latest rendition was eerily similar to that from last year; both were drives down the line that ended up off the foul pole. Rocchio’s home run last season came with a much larger set of stakes, but this weekend’s four-game series between the Guardians and White Sox is significant in its own right. These two teams are now tied atop the AL Central division standings. “There's a lot of season left,” Guardians utility man David Fry said. “We're gonna play these guys a lot more times. But at the end of the season, it usually comes to one or two games. If it's going to be between us and them, obviously every game is big.” That’s certainly true given each of the four matchups between these teams this season have been decided by one run. These have been tight games, and Thursday seemed to be slipping away from the Guardians, who trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the sixth. Starter Slade Cecconi kept the White Sox off the board through four innings, before Chicago tagged him for three runs on four doubles in the fifth. He was sent back out for the sixth, when he allowed a leadoff double to Braden Montgomery and a home run to Chase Meidroth, which ended his night. Manager Stephen Vogt noted given the state of the Guardians’ bullpen, they needed to push Cecconi for a few extra outs. It didn’t work out, and Daniel Espino entered in his place. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings on 35 pitches; it was his longest outing since April 29, 2022, with Double-A Akron. Espino, Shawn Armstrong and Tim Herrin combined to toss four scoreless innings. In between, Fry provided some crucial heroics off the bench. The 30-year-old belted a pinch-hit home run in the seventh that cut the Guardians’ deficit to one run.