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A recent slide coupled with a surge from the Kansas City Royals has the Cleveland Guardians’ lead in the American League Central shrinking.

After losing two of three at the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, Cleveland enters the game at the Chicago White Sox on Monday with a 2 1/2-game edge in the division.

The Guardians (81-62) are eager to turn the page on their 4-0 loss Sunday, the fourth time the team has been blanked in the past 20 games.

“I think that’s baseball,” Cleveland outfielder Will Brennan said. “We’re going to have stretches (where) we’re going to murder teams, and then we’re going to have stretches where we get shut out. … If we don’t get on base and we don’t execute our plans, we’re gonna get shut out.”

Despite being limited to five runs in the series, Cleveland remained just one game behind the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles for the AL’s best record.

“(Three) games isn’t going to get us down,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Chicago (33-111) returns to Guaranteed Rate Field after a 2-4 road trip to Baltimore and Boston, avoiding separate sweeps in the finales of both series.

On Sunday, the White Sox erupted for a five-run ninth inning to key a 7-2 victory against the Red Sox. Luis Robert sparked Chicago’s 12-hit attack with a 3-for-4 effort while Andrew Vaughn and Lenyn Sosa contributed two hits apiece.

Dominic Fletcher’s RBI double in the ninth stood up as the winning run. Zach DeLoach added a two-run single.

“I thought all day, the at-bats had been great,” White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “A great game. We did a great job defensively. The at-bats late. Guys getting on base, having good at-bats and then just fighting.”

Sizemore applauded the club’s resilience after a frustrating start to the series.

“Those first two games there was a couple plays that we weren’t able to make and execute,” he said. “I wouldn’t say they were difference makers, but I think when you look at today’s game, we played very clean. Took care of the ball. Made some plays, good throws, and then we had some clutch at-bats. And that’s what we want.”

The White Sox must win 10 of their remaining 18 games to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in modern baseball history (120).

Cleveland and Chicago haven’t met since July 4, when the Guardians secured an 8-4 home victory to win a three-game series. The Guardians and White Sox have split their first 10 games this season.

Rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo (0-3, 7.71 ERA) will get the start for Cleveland as he returns to the rotation. Cantillo last pitched on Aug. 26, when he contributed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief against the Royals.

He hasn’t faced Chicago in his career.

The White Sox have not named a starter for the game.

–Field Level Media