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Guardians miss chance to gain more ground in Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) — Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery homered and the Chicago White Sox snapped a six-game skid with a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday

Sosa hit a two-run homer, his 14th, in the first and Montgomery followed later in the inning with a solo shot, his ninth. Curtis Mead and Kyle Teel also knocked in runs for the White Sox, who banged out 11 hits.

Chicago starter Davis Martin (4-9) allowed five hits and three earned runs in five innings, with three walks and two strikeouts. Grant Taylor earned the save.

Kyle Manzardo hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and a two-run shot in the seventh, and David Fry added a two-run double in the sixth for the Guardians.

Cleveland’s Slade Cecconi (5-5) allowed five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in the loss.

Key moment

Mead, in his sixth game with the White Sox, hit an RBI double in the third to extend the lead to 4-0 in the third.

Key stat

Chicago has led the league in home runs since the All-Star break with 42.

Up next

The White Sox have not named a starter for their home series against the Tigers on Monday. Detroit will go with RHP Chris Paddack (4-10, 4.91 ERA).

The Guardians send LHP Logan Allen (7-9, 3.96 ERA) against Marlins RHP Janson Junk (6-2, 3.97) on Tuesday

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Verlander milestone

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Justin Verlander added another memorable chapter to his legendary pitching career Sunday, yet was hardly in the mood to celebrate.

Verlander struck out the side in the first inning against the Nationals to become the 10th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,500 career strikeouts. Not long after, things began to unravel for the three-time Cy Young Award winner as the Giants dropped an 8-0 decision to Washington in front of 40,000 fans at Oracle Park.

Washington scored four times in the second inning and five overall on 11 hits against Verlander in the latest outing in what has been a season-long struggle for the 42-year-old.

“I was happy to get there, happy to have a moment with the fans,” said Verlander, who is 1-9 in 20 starts with the Giants and has a hefty 4.53 ERA. “Cool milestone. I really appreciate what it’s taken to get there.”

Verlander hasn’t given Giants much to celebrate this season, though he had been in the best stretch of the season prior to getting roughed Sunday. In his three previous games prior, Verlander had a 0.60 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 15 innings.

He finished with six strikeouts against the Nationals, but spent most of his postgame media session focused on the entirety of his season rather than the 3,500 strikeouts.

While acknowledging frustration about how the year has played out, Verlander likened his performances to the 2022 campaign, when he went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA with the Houston Astros on the way to winning his third Cy Young.

“Stuff’s great, stuff’s fine,” Verlander said. “I’ve spent a lot of the season looking at comparables. It’s right on par, literally almost up and down the board, with (2022) when I won the Cy Young. So, I think the stuff is just fine. The results have been frustrating.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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