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Lane Thomas had two hits, including a three-run home run, and seven Cleveland pitchers combined on a five-hitter as the visiting Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-0 on Tuesday.

Cleveland (83-62) maintained a 3 1/2-game lead on the Kansas City Royals atop the American League Central.

The Guardians navigated an unforeseen de facto bullpen game to prevail against the White Sox (33-113), who have lost a franchise-worst 14 straight home games.

Guardians starter Ben Lively pitched just two innings, exiting the game after being struck on the outside of the right thigh by a comebacker.

The ball, hit by White Sox right fielder Dominic Fletcher, caromed off Lively and toward first baseman Josh Naylor, who touched the bag for the last out of the second inning. Cleveland staff helped Lively off the field before he stepped into the dugout on his own.

Pedro Avila, Eli Morgan, Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski followed with a combined seven scoreless innings.

Avila (6-1) permitted two hits in two innings.

Chicago rookie right-hander Jonathan Cannon lost for the fifth time in six starts. Cannon (3-10) scattered three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Kyle Manzardo singled home Thomas, who had doubled.

Cannon recorded an out to open the sixth but left after a walk and single. Thomas greeted reliever Gus Varland with a three-run blast to center field, putting the Guardians ahead 4-0.

Andrew Vaughn went 2-for-4 for Chicago. Andres Gimenez, Thomas, Josh Naylor and Manzardo all had two hits for the Guardians. Gimenez contributed an RBI single in the ninth.

The White Sox must win 10 of their remaining 16 games to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets for the highest single-season loss total in modern baseball history (120).

Sean Burke, the White Sox’s third-round draft pick in 2021, pitched three innings in his major league debut. He yielded an unearned run and three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Cleveland clinched the season series against Chicago with its seventh win in 12 meetings. The Guardians will try to complete a three-game sweep of the current set on Wednesday.

–Field Level Media