White Sox sweep the Rays behind fantastic start from Fedde

CHICAGO — Erick Fedde put together one of the best starts of his major league career, coming two outs short of a complete game, and the Chicago White Sox took home a series sweep Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It was a big time, gutsy performance by Fedde,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol after the game. “It wasn’t just the pressure of just going out there and winning a major league game … Our bullpen was in bad shape so, for him to go out and do what he did — Stepping up like that was tremendous.”

For the White Sox, it was their first three-game sweep since taking a series from the Detroit Tigers on June 2-4, 2023.

Game Recap

Runs scored were few and far between in a matchup that saw quality pitching from both Fedde and the Rays’ Zach Littell.

Tampa Bay third baseman Isaac Paredes hit his seventh home run of the year in the top of the fourth — A solo shot over the bullpen in left field — That gave the Rays a temporary lead, 1-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, the White Sox worked some two-out magic.

After Gavin Sheets and Eloy Jimenez hit back-to-back singles with one out, Robbie Grossman and Danny Mendick followed suit with back-to-back singles with two outs that brought home Sheets and Jimenez to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.

Littell went on to finish his day after six innings. His final line was 6.0 innings pitched with two earned runs on eight hits, no walks and six strikeouts.

In the eighth, the White Sox put together three straight singles (two of which were infield hits) from Tommy Pham, Sheets and Jimenez ,before Andrew Benintendi laced a two-RBI single into right field to extend their lead to 4-1.

Manager Pedro Grifol sent Erick Fedde back out for the ninth inning at 100 pitches even, and after getting Amed Rosario to flyout to lead off the top of the ninth, he surrendered a single to Paredes before a double from Harold Ramirez plated Paredes to trim the score to 4-2.

“Oh yeah, he was going out,” Grifol said about sending Fedde back out for the ninth inning. “I wanted him to have a complete game.”

With Ramirez at second, Jordan Leasure came in to get the final two outs of the game and preserve a White Sox victory for his first career save.

“I definitely [felt] a lot more amped up and when you hear the crowd getting into it,” Leasure said postgame about pitching in the ninth. “It gives you a little boost so, it’s definitely a lot more fun in that situation.”

Fedde finished his day going 8.1 innings pitched with two earned runs on seven hits, no walks and nine strikeouts.

“It was a good one. It meant a lot because our bullpen had gone through a lot the last two days,” Fedde said after the game. “Just a big one for the team to keep the good vibes going.”

Sox bring up pitching reinforcements

Prior to their game against the Rays on Sunday, the White Sox announced a series of roster moves that featured bringing up two pitchers from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, and sending two pitchers down to the minors.

According to a press release from the team, they recalled Prelander Berroa and selected the contract of Brad Keller from Triple-A, while also optioning Jonathan Cannon to Charlotte and designating Deivi Garcia for Assignment.

Berroa is 1-2 with an 8.74 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 11 relief appearances in 11.1 innings pitched with the Knights this season, but had pitched seven consecutive scoreless appearances ahead of his call-up to the big league roster Sunday.

The 24-year-old right hander is in his first season with the White Sox organization after being acquired from the Seattle Mariners with outfielder Zach DeLoach and a Competitive Balance B selection (No. 69 overall) on Feb. 3 in exchange for reliever Gregory Santos.

Keller joins the South Siders after making three starts with Charlotte this season, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 14 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched. He signed a minor-league contract with the Sox back on March 8.

Keller is 38-53 with a 4.27 ERA and 506 strikeouts in 150 career games (114 starts) over six seasons in Major League Baseball (2018-23), all with the Kansas City Royals. He appeared in 11 games (nine starts) with the Royals in 2023, going 3-4 with a 4.57 ERA and 31 strikeouts.

Cannon made three starts with the White Sox after his contract was selected from the Knights on April 16, going 0-1 with a 7.24 ERA and 13 strikeouts. He made his MLB debut in game one of a doubleheader on April 17 vs. Kansas City — A no-decision where he gave up one run over five innings pitched.

García has gone 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA, 11 walks and 15 strikeouts over 14 appearances this season. He was claimed off waivers from the Yankees on Aug. 10, 2023.

Up Next

The Chicago White Sox take on the Minnesota Twins in game 1 of a three-game series, starting Monday at 6:40 p.m. Central Time.

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