Robert Jr. hits RBI single in ninth to give White Sox win over Marlins

CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr.'s previous at-bats didn't go the way he wanted. He got over it quickly.

Robert smacked an RBI single in the ninth inning to give the Chicago White Sox a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday night.

Elvis Andrus singled leading off the ninth against Dylan Floro (3-4) and took second on a wild pitch. Tim Anderson struck out before the Marlins intentionally walked the left-handed Andrew Benintendi, setting up a righty-versus-right matchup. But Robert foiled it when he drove the winning single past third baseman Jean Segura.

“No, it didn’t surprise me because he’s a pitcher that throws a lot of sinkers, and I thought their plan was to face me trying to get a groundball,” Robert said through an interpreter. “But at the same time, they were trying to not face a lefty. That didn’t surprise me at all.”

It was a sweet finish for Robert to what had been a difficult day at the plate. He struck out with the bases loaded in the third inning and was hitless in his first four appearances, though he reached on catcher's interference in the seventh.

WHITE SOX DELIVER

Dylan Cease threw six strong innings, and Liam Hendriks (2-0) worked a 1-2-3 ninth. Yasmani Grandal homered and had three hits, and the White Sox cooled off surging Miami with their sixth victory in seven games. The Marlins had won a season-high six in a row.

Cease gave up one run and four hits. The 2022 AL Cy Young Award runner-up struck out seven and walked two.

The White Sox opened the weekend series on a winning note after taking two of three from the Yankees in New York even though they were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

“I wasn’t frustrated that we weren’t scoring,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “And I know we were 0-for-10, 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position at the time. I wasn’t frustrated. You know why, because that’s good pitching over there. These guys are running out there really good arms."

GOING DEEP

Miami’s Joey Wendle homered leading off the fifth.

Rookie Eury Pérez went five innings, allowing one run and five hits. The 20-year-old Dominican struck out six and walked two in his sixth major league start.

Chicago grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Grandal broke out of a 5-for-41 slump with a drive just beyond the right-field wall for his fifth homer.

Wendle tied it when he led off the fifth with his first homer this season, driving a 3-2 pitch beyond a leaping right fielder Gavin Sheets.

Cease got out of a second-and-third jam in the sixth. With one out, Tim Anderson nailed Jorge Soler trying to score on Jesús Sánchez's grounder, and second baseman Elvis Andrus made a sliding catch on Yuli Gurriel's foul pop.

“We’ve been on a good stretch lately,” Cease said. “We’ve played really well in all facets of the game. When we play like that, we’re going to be very hard to beat.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Marlins: 1B Garrett Cooper was favoring his left arm after trying to catch 3B Jean Segura's errant throw on Elvis Andrus' leadoff single in the third. Andrus hit his arm. Cooper was checked by a trainer and remained in the game until Yuli Gurriel replaced him in the fifth. ... OF-INF Jazz Chisholm Jr. (turf toe) is doing rehab work with the team. ... RHP Johnny Cueto (right biceps tightness) is scheduled to pitch three innings for Double-A Pensacola on Sunday. ... LHP Trevor Rogers (left biceps strain) was scheduled to pitch Friday for Triple-A Jacksonville. That game was postponed.

White Sox: The White Sox expect OF Eloy Jiménez (lower left leg) to miss three to five games after he exited Thursday's doubleheader nightcap against the Yankees in New York. Manager Pedro Grifol said he thinks Jiménez started to experience discomfort just below his calf in the opener and tweaked it in the second game before exiting in the ninth inning.

UP NEXT

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 5.07 ERA) looks to get on track for Miami, while Chicago RHP Michael Kopech (3-5, 4.33) tries to keep a run of solid starts going. He has a 2.72 ERA in his past seven outings.

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