Sean Burke gives White Sox what they need with 6 strong innings in win over Guardians

CLEVELAND — Sean Burke gave the White Sox just what they needed after they used seven pitchers in a rain-delayed, 10-inning game the night before.

The right-hander threw six innings of one-run ball, striking out a career-high 11, and Brandon Eisert and Grant Taylor, the only two relievers who didn’t pitch Friday, threw three innings of hitless ball to close out a 3-1 victory over the Guardians and move the Sox back into a tie for first place in the American League Central.

“Getting back to being simple and attacking the zone, getting to two-strike counts,” Burke said. “You see some of the chase, and then guys get in between and start taking some stuff in the zone.”

“He just filled up the zone,” manager Will Venable said. “We know that part of beating these guys is limiting walks. Obviously, he did that. If you get ahead, just continue to throw strikes. It comes at a cost. There were some [two]-strike hits. Totally fine with that. Just want to limit the walks.”

Burke’s one costly mistake was allowing a home run to Austin Hedges that tied the game at 1 in the fifth. Steven Kwan followed with a triple, but second baseman Chase Meidroth threw him out at the plate with the infield in. Burke was aiming to be economical with a thin bullpen but ended up throwing 95 pitches.

“I want to say after the fifth inning, I knew I was in the 70 range,” Burke said. “I was trying to get at least two more innings out of it. Going into the game, I knew where we were at. Definitely wanted to go at least six.”

Eisert followed with two perfect innings with two strikeouts, and Taylor earned his third save of the season, bouncing back after allowing a walk-off homer Thursday — though he did walk a batter with two outs.

“Eisert was amazing,” Venable said. “To get two quality innings was huge. It was his job to set up tonight, and he did in a big way. And then great to see from Grant his ability to bounce back after a tough one a couple days ago. Did have that walk in there, but we’ll forgive him for that one.”

Colson Montgomery celebrated the first anniversary of his major-league debut with an RBI double in the first and a go-ahead homer in the eighth, his 12th blast against a left-hander (31 against righties). Newly named All-Star Miguel Vargas added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

The Sox snapped a three-game losing streak and remain the only team in the majors without a four-game skid. They also ended a nine-game losing streak at Progressive Field.

Montgomery said the team has noticed a difference in the intensity of this series against a first-place competitor.

“This is like we’re playing in October. This is like playoff baseball,” he said. “I think this whole series has felt like a playoff series. But then I look at the calendar, we’re not even past the All-Star break yet. This is also a good learning experience for down the road.”