Guardians ride late heroics into rematch vs. White Sox

Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio came through in the bottom of the ninth inning in the series opener between the top two teams in the American League Central.

Their battle for first place continues Friday, when the first-place Chicago White Sox and Guardians meet in the second contest of a four-game set in Cleveland.

White Sox left-hander Anthony Kay (6-3, 4.50 ERA) will take on Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams (9-4, 3.81) in front of what is expected to be the first of three straight sellout crowds.

The teams have split their first four games this season, all of which have been decided by one run. That includes Cleveland's 6-5 win on Thursday that ended on Rocchio's two-run homer off the foul pole in right field with one out in the ninth.

"The ball has really been flying this week, so I didn't know if it was fair, but I knew it was a home run," Rocchio said. "Every time, it's a good matchup facing those guys, especially how they're playing right now.

"They play hard, they play smart, so it's very fun to face them consistently."

Rocchio's second career walk-off homer came off Grant Taylor, who was called upon to work two innings for his third straight appearance by White Sox manager Will Venable. Taylor didn't allow a baserunner in the first two outings.

Chicago catcher Kyle Teel said he believed throwing a fastball was "the right call," as did Taylor, whose reasoning was an inability to locate his other primary pitch. He walked two of the first six batters he faced before Rocchio's towering, 380-foot blast.

"I wasn't lining up the curveball, so went with another pitch," said Taylor, who has converted just two of five save opportunities. "I threw a pretty good location, but he was looking for it and got a good swing."

Taylor currently is the closer because Seranthony Dominguez blew back-to-back save chances, moving him into second place in the majors with five failures in 17 save opportunities. Bryan Hudson is second on the team with three saves but pitched the previous day.

The White Sox (45-41) are a shaky 23-of-41 in save opportunities on the season but sit .0005 percentage points ahead of Cleveland (46-42) in the division standings.

"You don't have to be perfect, and Grant knows that," said Teel, who had a two-run double in the fifth. "(Rocchio) just took a good swing on a good pitch."

Kay was one of the more surprising success stories in the AL in March, April and May, before cratering in June with a 1-2 record and 6.35 ERA. His lone quality start in the month came against Cleveland on June 22, throwing six shutout innings in a no-decision of a 6-5 Chicago win.

The Guardians have yet to score a run against Kay in three appearances (one start) totaling 7 1/3 innings, but he has no decision against them.

Williams also has seen his breakout season go south with a four-start winless streak, going 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. He pitched against Kay in that June game, giving up two runs in five innings while not factoring in the outcome.

In four career starts against the White Sox, Williams is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 19 innings.

"There is a lot of season left, but this series is huge," said Cleveland left fielder David Fry, who has homered in consecutive games. "Obviously, every game is big and any time we can get a comeback win, it's huge."