White Sox top Guardians 4-1

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox came into Tuesday reeling from blowing a big lead the previous night for a stinging loss.

A performance like this sure helped ease the pain.

Lucas Giolito threw seven innings in winning his second consecutive start, Gavin Sheets homered in his second straight game, and Chicago shook off a major collapse by beating the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Tim Anderson added three hits and two RBIs as the White Sox won for the seventh time in eight games. The lone blemish was when they blew a six-run lead in the ninth on Monday and lost in 11 innings.

“Last night was a heartbreaker, it was tough,” Giolito said. “But we’re in a spot where we can self-evaluate very well. We didn’t have to say anything, we didn’t have to have a meeting. We didn’t have to have anything after that game. We knew coming in today what we needed to improve, what we needed to do.”

The only run Giolito allowed was on a homer by Josh Naylor, otherwise giving up six hits, striking out five and walking one.

Anderson gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead with a single in the fifth. Sheets hit a two-run shot in the sixth and Anderson then chased Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill (1-2) with an RBI double in the seventh for the final score.

“That saying is true, you know: ‘The worst you can do is lose today because you’re still moping about yesterday,'” manager Tony La Russa said. “So clean the slate, and guys were ready to play, the clubhouse was really good before the game.”

Quantrill went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and 10 hits.

Jose Ruiz got two outs in the eighth before Bennett Sousa retired Jose Ramirez on a groundout with a runner on second. Kendall Graveman worked the ninth for his second save in three chances.

Graveman walked Franmil Reyes with two out and gave up a single to Amed Rosario before retiring Andrés Giménez on a slow roller to first baseman José Abreu. A diving Giménez was initially ruled safe, ahead of a sliding Abreu, but the call was overturned after a lengthy review.

“We’re never out of it,” Cleveland’s Austin Hedges said. “It’s awesome. It’s really fun to watch. We’re relentless. Even when we’re losing, we’re putting a lot of pressure on them.”