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Chicago White Sox 5 games back after 11-inning loss

The Guaranteed Rate Field crowd knew the magnitude of the moment as José Abreu faced Emmanuel Clase with the tying run on second in the 10th inning Tuesday.

Abreu singled to right-center, scoring Elvis Andrus to give the Chicago White Sox hope in a must-win situation against the Cleveland Guardians.

The game went to the 11th, where it all fell apart for the Sox. The Guardians scored five runs in the inning and won 10-7 in front of 23,242.

“We played, we fought, just didn’t get it done,” Sox outfielder AJ Pollock said. “It’s frustrating, but it’s baseball and get back at it (Wednesday).”

Myles Straw broke the 5-5 tie with a two-run double against Jake Diekman. Steven Kwan followed with an RBI single, José Ramírez brought in a run with a sacrifice fly and the fifth run scored on a stolen base/throwing error as the Guardians handed the Sox a devastating defeat in the American League Central race.

The Sox trail the Guardians by five games.

“The whole game, that’s on me,” acting manager Miguel Cairo said. “We lost so that’s on me. Our players fought really hard and they did their job. I didn’t do my job.”

When asked, Cairo didn’t offer specifics.

“I should have made better moves,” he said. “We lost the game so it’s on me.”

Pollock did not agree with that assessment.

“We had a bunch of stuff,” Pollock said. “I had a funky (defensive) play in the (second). Trying to make an aggressive play and got caught in a weird spot, and it was probably a double and it ended up being a triple, and the run that ended up scoring was a big run.

“A couple missed opportunities throughout the game. A pair of defensive miscues. It was execution on our end for sure. (Cairo), I thought he did a good job of getting the guys out there and putting guys in the right spots. We just didn’t win.”

The night began after a 40-minute rain delay with AL Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease on the mound for the Sox. He got through some early bumps and allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings.

“I feel like we were ready,” Cease said. “I think if anything me not being efficient, if I’m efficient maybe I go seven or eight and save some arms. I would say that’s as big of a reason as why we lost as anything.”

He received defensive help from second baseman Josh Harrison, who made spectacular plays — one on a grounder and the other a soft liner — to rob Amed Rosario of two hits.

The run-cease allowed came in the second. Andrés Giménez started the inning with a slicer to left. Pollock tripped while running for the ball, and Giménez reached third for a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Austin Hedges.

Pollock played a role in helping the Sox take the lead in the sixth.

Andrus led off the inning with a single. He stole second, a call that was upheld after a video challenge by the Guardians. Yoán Moncada walked and the Guardians replaced starter Aaron Civale with reliever Nick Sandlin.

Abreu got hit by Sandlin’s first pitch, loading the bases for Eloy Jiménez, who tied the game with a single to center.

Andrew Vaughn struck out, bringing Pollock to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Pollock hit a grounder to second that looked like it would be an inning-ending double play.

Giménez tossed the ball to Rosario for the force at second, but Rosario’s throw to first skipped past Owen Miller. Two runs scored during the sequence to make it 3-1.

The Guardians took advantage of consecutive walks to start the seventh by reliever Jimmy Lambert to tie the game.

Kwan drove in a run with a single against reliever Aaron Bummer, and with two outs and runners on the corners, Ramírez hit a grounder deep in the hole at short and just beat Andrus’ throw to first. A run scored on the infield hit, tying the game at 3.

Rosario tried to break the tie by scoring from second on Josh Naylor’s infield hit. Andrus made a diving stop in the outfield grass and threw to the plate. Catcher Seby Zavala applied the tag, and Rosario was called out to end the inning.

He appeared to beat the tag, but the Guardians couldn’t challenge, having lost the sixth-inning review.

Naylor’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly to center by Oscar Gonzalez gave the Guardians a 5-3 lead in 10th.

The Sox got within a run when Zavala scored on a fielder’s choice. Andrus reached first on the play and stole second. Abreu drove him in with the hit on a 1-2 pitch to tie the game at 5.

“It wasn’t lack of effort,” Pollock said. “I think we went out there and gave it everything. Definitely had a chance to make up some ground and we didn’t.”

Pollock hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th — the 1,000th hit of his career — but the Sox didn’t get closer and now find themselves in a huge hole with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

In addition to the five-game lead, the Guardians secured the tiebreaker against the Sox. They have a 10-7 edge with two meetings remaining.

“We know where we’re at,” Pollock said. “We know the situation. The goal was to win the first game. I’ve been in situations where the math doesn’t seem right. The key is to just win that next game. The team above you feels that.

“If we can get them to feel that, it’s a fundamentally sound ballclub but let’s see what they feel like when you get a little closer and feel us. That’s the goal. We’ve got to win the series, got to win (Wednesday) in order to have a chance of that, and just keep fighting.”

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