White Sox at Indians
The Cleveland Indians look to build off a stirring victory to end their last series when they host the Chicago White Sox on Monday afternoon for the opener of a three-game set between the American League Central rivals. The Indians rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday to forge a tie, matched Houston with a homer by Yonder Alonso in the 13th and won 10-9 on Greg Allen’s walk-off blast in the 14th for their fourth victory in six games.
Cleveland's Michael Brantley singled home the tying run in the ninth and went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 16 games - the third-longest of his career - during which he is batting .352 with five homers and 17 RBIs. The White Sox have dropped three of their last four games to fall into last place in the AL Central, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position during a 3-2 loss at Detroit on Sunday. Jose Abreu went 0-for-4 in the series finale for Chicago as his batting average sank to .313, but he recorded six hits in the previous two contests and multi-hit performances in seven of his last 10 games. The White Sox will send Dylan Covey to the mound Monday while the Indians counter with Adam Plutko in a battle of 26-year-olds making their third start of the season.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, WGN (Chicago), SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Dylan Covey (1-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Indians RH Adam Plutko (2-0, 2.03)
Covey earned his first major-league victory Wednesday against Baltimore, allowing one run on six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over seven innings. The Californian lost his season debut at Kansas City on April 28, when he limited the Royals to four runs on seven hits and three walks in six frames. Covey, who went 0-7 with a 7.71 ERA last year, gave up one run in three innings during two relief appearances versus Cleveland in 2017.
Plutko has won his first two major-league starts, including Wednesday's turn in which he held the Chicago Cubs to two hits and four walks over six scoreless innings. The UCLA product also defeated Toronto on May 3, when he yielded three runs and six hits with six strikeouts in 7 1/3 frames. Plutko, an 11th-round draft pick in 2013, faced the White Sox in his big-league debut in 2016 and gave up two hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
WALK-OFFS
1. Abreu needs two doubles to tie Frank Thomas (17) for the most in one month in franchise history.
2. Cleveland 2B Jason Kipnis has knocked in six runs in his last six games and hit safely in seven of his last eight contests.
3. Chicago OF Daniel Palka went 5-for-14 with a homer and two RBIs in the series against Detroit.