Chicago White Sox players stood near their dugout, a celebration on pause.
Both the Sox and Cleveland Guardians awaited word from a video review on whether Tristan Peters had made it home safely ahead of catcher Patrick Bailey’s tag on a single by Sam Antonacci.
“I was pretty confident I was in there,” Peters said. “Obviously, it was a close play.”
Would it be a comeback win for the Sox? Or extra innings?
“I was just standing there and they were all waiting,” Antonacci said.
The original call on the field was safe. And after the lengthy review, that ruling was upheld.
Antonacci’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth propelled the Sox to a 6-5 victory against the Guardians on Monday in front of 23,151 at Rate Field.
The Sox (40-37) went from being on the verge of a second straight late-inning loss to rallying and pulling into a tie for first place in the American League Central with the Guardians (41-38).
“It was a crazy one there,” manager Will Venable said. “Really good job of just continuing to battle.”
Antonacci had two hits, three RBIs, one walk and one run in the opener of the important three-game series.
“He really enjoys those moments,” Venable said. “He enjoys every moment out there really. You see that competitive fight from him, putting together good at-bats.”
The Sox were in control for a large part of the game. Starter Anthony Kay pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out eight.
The Sox built a 3-0 lead behind an RBI double by Braden Montgomery in the second, an RBI single by Andrew Benintendi in the third and a home run by Randal Grichuk in the sixth.
The Guardians tied the score with three runs in the seventh against reliever Grant Taylor.
“With the bullpen being so good up front in this first part of the season, you know they are not going to be perfect every day,” Venable said. “You are depending on those guys to go out and shut the door. They have done a good job with that to this point.
“They have things they are going to work on and be able to come back and take advantage of the next opportunity.”
The Sox rebounded with a two-out, broken-bat RBI single in the bottom of the seventh by Antonacci on a grounder that somehow bounced past first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
“There was a lot of spin on the ball just with the way I hit it,” Antonacci said. “As a first baseman, the way I swung is kind of a top-spin swing, but I really got it off the end so it was curling or spinning the other way.
“Once it kicked that grass, it spun in a different direction than he was looking in. That’s just part of the game.”
The Sox went to the ninth still leading 4-3. Reliever Seranthony Domínguez walked Travis Bazzana, who stole second and moved to third when the pitch was wild. Bailey drove him home with a single.
“You can’t walk the first guy,” Domínguez said. “I have to be better than that.”
Bailey scored on a sacrifice fly to center, just beating Peters’ throw to the plate, to give the Guardians a 5-4 lead.
“My throw could have been better,” Peters said. “I was trying to not do too much with the throw, sail it or anything like that. It hit the mound. Got to be a better throw.”
Peters got a chance to contribute in the bottom of the ninth. Montgomery walked with one out, and Peters followed with a check-swing double to left field.
“I saw a sweeper (from Guardians closer Cade Smith) — he doesn’t throw that a lot,” Peters said. “It kind of threw me off, but my swing was in the right spot. I just stopped it and it got right on the line.”
Jacob Gonzalez stuck out, but Antonacci hit the first pitch he saw back up the middle for a single. Montgomery scored easily, and Peters made it home just ahead of center fielder Daniel Schneemann’s throw for the walk-off victory.
“Just trying to scratch one off to tie it, and I was fortunate enough with Peters, with how fast he is, to be able to come around and score,” Antonacci said. “They played a heck of a game. Just a fun game overall.
“We said in (the clubhouse) that’s kind of what a playoff game is going to feel like. Just looking forward to keep putting good days ahead.”
