Bryan Ramos is making quite a first impression with the Chicago White Sox, who continue a four-game series against the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Friday.
Ramos had two hits in a 3-2 victory over the Guardians in the series opener on Thursday, helping the White Sox record just their 10th win of the season.
Chicago led 3-0 before Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor hit back-to-back homers in the eighth inning for Cleveland, which has lost two of its past three games. Naylor has a team-high 10 home runs this season, including three against the White Sox.
Ramirez also enjoys facing Chicago. He leads all active hitters in home runs (33) and RBIs (100) against the White Sox.
After opening the season with a 6-26 record, Chicago has won four of its past six games. The recent surge has coincided with Ramos’ arrival from Double-A Birmingham.
The 22-year-old third baseman is 7-for-18 (.389) with two doubles in six games since being recalled for his major league debut last week.
“He’s playing well,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s confident, he’s playing to win, he’s moving runners, he’s just doing the little things he needs to play at this level.”
The White Sox have also received a spark from outfielder Tommy Pham, who joined the team on April 26. The 36-year-old veteran is hitting .313 (15-for-48) with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs through 12 games.
Chicago will send left-hander Garrett Crochet (2-4, 5.31 ERA) to the mound on Friday. He allowed one run on three hits over six innings in a 5-1 road win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Crochet, 24, received a scare after being hit on his left ankle by a line drive in the third inning. However, he stayed in the game and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.
“His performance was gutty,” Grifol said. “He got smoked on that line drive. For him to stay in and do what he did and finish off the way he finished off was tremendous.”
Crochet owns a 53-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 40 2/3 innings in eight starts this season. He is set to start against Cleveland for the first time, having gone 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 11 career relief appearances vs. the Guardians.
Cleveland will counter with Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 5.67 ERA), who allowed one run over six innings in a 4-1 home victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
The 37-year-old right-hander bounced back after giving 13 runs across nine innings in his previous two outings.
“That’s the best stuff he’s had all year,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said following the Sunday game. “His sinker, his slider, they were electric.”
Pham is 6-for-11 with a home run against Carrasco, who is 10-12 with a 4.24 ERA in 31 career games (27 starts) vs. the White Sox.
The Guardians are looking for better execution at the plate after going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the Thursday loss. Cleveland left seven runners on base.
“We were 0-for-3 with a runner on third and less than two outs, and that’s the difference in the game right there,” Vogt said. “But we’re working, and those things happen. It’s just unfortunate.”
–Field Level Media
