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CLEVELAND -- Here's one you don't see every day: A walk-off pickoff. Chicago reliever David Robertson picked Cleveland's Abraham Almonte off first base for the final out as the White Sox beat the Indians 4-3 on Saturday night at Progressive Field.
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Left-hander Carlos Rodon (8-6) pitched into the eighth inning and continued his mastery over the Indians, but it got a little hairy in the ninth inning.
With one out and the White Sox leading 4-1, Robertson gave up a double to catcher Yan Gomes and a home run to third baseman Chris Johnson that cut the lead to 4-3. Almonte, Cleveland's center fielder, followed with a single.
Robertson retired right fielder Jerry Sands on a fly ball for the second out. Then -- with second baseman Jason Kipnis, one of Cleveland's top hitters, at the plate -- Robertson picked Almonte off first base to end the game. The right-hander picked up his 30th save.
"That's tough to take," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "Abe looked like he wanted to run, but we wanted Kip to hit there."
Chicago manager Robin Ventura said, "We made it interesting at the end. David had three runs to play with. Johnson got him on the home run, but there are other ways to get outs, and David found a creative way to get the last out."
Rodon (8-6) outpitched right-hander Carlos Carrasco (13-11), who retired the first nine batters then gave up three runs on four hits over the next two innings.
"(Rodon) was sharp with his command the whole way through. He was locating great," Ventura said.
Rodon said, "I just tried to throw strikes, get ahead early, and then let our defense do its job."
In five career appearances against Cleveland, Rodon is 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA. The 22-year-old also improved to 4-2 with a 1.66 ERA in his last seven starts, holding opposing teams to a .193 batting average.
Cleveland's only run in the first eight innings came on a sacrifice fly by Gomes in the fourth. Carrasco, who didn't get much help from his defense, came into the game on a roll. In his previous seven starts, he had been 3-2 with a 2.05 ERA.
Carrasco was removed from the game after allowing the first two batters in the sixth to reach base. In five innings, he threw 102 pitches and was charged with three runs (two earned) on four hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Francona went to his bullpen repeatedly in the last four innings. At one point, Francona used five pitchers in the span of eight batters.
Leading 3-1, the White Sox added what turned out to be a crucial insurance run in the eighth inning, on an RBI double by catcher Rob Brantly.
"Our offense got us just enough runs," Ventura said.
Carrasco breezed through the first three innings, retiring all nine batters, six on strikeouts. Chicago center fielder Adam Eaton ended Carrasco's streak by singling to right field leading off the fourth inning. Eaton later scored on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Melky Cabrera.
Cleveland tied it with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Gomes. Cleveland didn't score again until the ninth.
"He (Rodon) had a real good breaking ball," Francona said. "We had a couple of chances to do something early, but we couldn't do anything with them. But some of that was him. He did a good job."
Chicago took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning on an RBI single by second baseman Micah Johnson and a fielder's choice ground ball by Eaton.
NOTES: The Indians have not been above .500 since April 9, when they were 2-1. ... The Indians are 44-37 when C Yan Gomes starts and 29-37 when he doesn't. ... White Sox 1B Jose Abreu is on pace for 32 home runs and 103 RBIs. He is trying to join Albert Belle as the only White Sox players to have 30 homers and 100 RBIs in their first two years with the team. ... White Sox OF Melky Cabrera's next home run will be the 100th of his career.
