Walker Buehler Goes Seven Strong as Red Sox Defeat White Sox 4-2 in Series Finale

Red Sox free agent signing Walker Buehler had been roughed up a few times in his first four starts, posting a 5.23 ERA entering Monday's game. And early on, it appeared the White Sox were on a similar path. Nick Maton and Andrew Benintendi led off with a pair of singles, and a soft ground ball by Edgar Quero was enough to bring home a run in the first inning.

But Buehler was dominant from that point on, holding the White Sox scoreless across the following six innings and clinching the series as the Red Sox won Monday's game 4-2. With this loss, the White Sox fall to 5-17 on the season and remain in last place in the AL Central.

Buehler fooled Miguel Vargas, Michael A. Taylor and Jake Amaya with his sweeper for three strikeouts in the second inning, and he struck out two more batters in the third after putting the first two men on with walks. It was Buehler's sinker that Vargas and Taylor whiffed at for strikeouts in the fourth, and Buehler got some help from his defense with a double play to end the fifth.

Buehler wasn't getting as many swings and misses in the sixth and seventh innings, but the White Sox couldn't make enough solid contact off the righty. Lenyn Sosa hit a sharp single in the sixth, but Quero and Vargas grounded out with exit velocities below 60 miles per hour. Buehler capped off an impressive outing with a fastball painted at the high and outside corner to strike out Brooks Baldwin, followed by a bunt groundout by Taylor and a soft come-backer by Joshua Palacios.

Through seven innings, Buehler allowed just four hits and one earned run while walking three batters and striking out nine. The Red Sox gave him run support in the second and third as he settled in and quieted a White Sox lineup that entered Monday 27th in MLB in runs scored.

White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon missed the zone with a high fastball to Rob Refsnyder in the second inning, but the Red Sox left fielder still managed to swat it 397 feet and over the Green Monster in left field, tying the game at one run apiece.

Cannon ran into more trouble in the third after allowing a leadoff double to Jarren Duran on an elevated fastball. He walked Alex Bregman two at-bats later, and Trevor Story drove in Duran with a sharp line drive up the middle off of Cannon's sinker. The Red Sox took a 4-1 lead in the third as Kristian Campbell hit a ground ball the other way and through the White Sox infield for an RBI single.

Cannon finished the game with six innings, six hits, four earned runs, four walks and four strikeouts. That marked his longest start of the season, but it was also his second most earned runs allowed after pitching 4.1 scoreless innings in his last outing against the Athletics. Tyler Gilbert and Penn Murfee combined for two scoreless innings with two hits, one walk and four strikeouts out of the White Sox bullpen.

After being shut out in the previous six innings, the White Sox may have been glad to see Aroldis Chapman – or anyone besides Buehler – come out of the Red Sox bullpen in the eighth. The inning began with a strikeout by Bobby Dalbec, who joined the White Sox Monday after Chase Meidroth was placed on the 10-day injured list with right thumb inflammation.

Andrew Benintendi cut into the Red Sox lead with a 358-foot home run that just snuck inside the foul pole off of Chapman's 99 mile-per-hour sinker. Luis Robert Jr. reached on an error by Duran, but the White Sox couldn't continue the rally as Quero and Sosa each lined out to end the inning. Justin Slaten worked a one-two-three ninth inning, securing the Red Sox victory.

The White Sox now head to Minneapolis for a three-game series with the Twins, beginning Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. CT at Target Field. The Twins took two of three games from the White Sox in the second series of the season, but they were most recently swept by the Atlanta Braves and have a 7-15 record heading into the series.

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