Clevinger, 4 relievers combine for shutout as White Sox beat Tigers 3-0
Two weeks on the sideline gave Mike Clevinger time to address what was hurting him. And it wasn't just his wrist.
Clevinger and four relievers combined on Chicago's fourth shutout, Tim Anderson scored a run and drove in one, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 3-0 on Friday.
Clevinger pitched three-hit ball over five innings in first start since May 17. He threw 73 pitches, striking out six and walking one after being sidelined because of inflammation in his right wrist.
"I feel like we really used those two weeks to find some mechanical flaws that I had," he said. "I really showed the work that we put in those two weeks."
Clevinger felt he could have stayed in longer. But he understood why manager Pedro Grifol removed him when he did, particularly with the bullpen rested following an off day.
Keynan Middleton (1-0), Reynaldo López and Joe Kelly each gave up a hit while working a scoreless inning. Kendall Graveman retired all three batters in the ninth for his fifth save and the White Sox came away with the win after losing four of five.
Detroit, which won three of four at home against Chicago last weekend, went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine while spoiling a solid start by Reese Olson (0-1) in his major league debut. The 23-year-old right-hander didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, when he gave up two runs. He struck out six and walked one.
Olson was the first Tiger to hold an opponent without a hit through five in his debut since June 26, 1972, when Bill Slayback threw seven hitless innings against the New York Yankees, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"He had pretty good stuff," Grifol said. "He was sinking it. His slider was a good slider, kind of an electric pitch for him. It's got really tight spin, it's late. You're right, the more we see him, the more comfortable we are against him, but he still made some good pitches."
BREAKING THROUGH
The White Sox broke up the no-hit bid when Romy Gonzalez and Anderson chased Olson with back-to-back singles to start a two-run sixth. Andrew Benintendi drove in the first run when he greeted Will Vest with a single, and Eloy Jiménez added an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to 13 games.
The White Sox got another run in the seventh, after Yasmani Grandal drew a leadoff walk against Chasen Shreve. Jake Burger forced the runner, but came around with two out when Anderson drove a double down the left-field line against Mason Englert.
A two-time All-Star, Anderson is 11 of 29 in his past seven games.
"If he starts spraying the ball around like that, that's going to be really good for us," Grifol said. "As he goes, we go, right? He makes things happen for us on the top of the order. He's feeling better. He looks better. He took some good pitches today, had some good ABs."
Kelly came on in the eighth and immediately walked Akil Baddoo and gave up a single to Javier Báez. But he got out of that jam when Eric Haase grounded to the pitcher.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: RHP Alex Faedo (right middle fingernail soreness) had his scheduled start pushed back to Tuesday. LHP Matthew Boyd will start Sunday in his place, manager A.J. Hinch said. ... RHP Matt Manning (broken right foot) threw live batting practice Friday and will have another session early next week in Philadelphia. ... LHP Tarik Skubal (strained left elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Class A West Michigan on Sunday. ... The Tigers now list OF Riley Greene's injury as a stress reaction in his left fibula after previously describing it as a stress fracture.
White Sox: Besides getting Clevinger back from the 15-day injured list, the White Sox reinstated INF Elvis Andrus from the 10-day IL. They designated INF Hanser Alberto for assignment and optioned RHP Jesse Scholtens to Triple-A Charlotte.
UP NEXT
The weekend series continues with RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-2, 3.50 ERA) starting for Detroit and RHP Dylan Cease (3-3, 4.88) getting the ball for Chicago.
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