Solid pitching helps Sox earn four-game split with Guardians

If the White Sox are going to get back to where they still believe they belong this season, Lucas Giolito knows he has to step up.

After another forgettable start against the Blue Jays in late June, the struggling starting pitcher called himself out.

"I just have to give the team a chance to win and I'm failing to do that over and over," Giolito said. "It's very frustrating, so that's why I've got to figure it out. There's no excuse for how I've been performing. It's just getting back to me and what makes me successful, so it shouldn't be so hard."

After being shelled by Toronto, Giolito's ERA was a swollen 5.40.

But back on the mound for a big game against Cleveland Wednesday night at Progressive Field, Giolito had another successful outing.

In the White Sox's 2-1 win over the Guardians - which earned them a split in the four-game series - Giolito gave up an unearned run over 6⅓ innings while lowering his ERA to 4.69. Reynaldo Lopez replaced Giolito in the seventh and worked out of major trouble before turning it over to Kendall Graveman and Liam Hendriks, who both pitched perfect innings and had 2 strikeouts.

"We have a desire to win, we have a desire to compete every day," Hendriks said on the NBC Sports Chicago postgame show. "We're never down in the count. We have an opportunity to kind of claw our way back."

Left fielder Eloy Jimenez had to leave the game after running in to make a catch and end the sixth inning.

The Sox announced Jimenez exited with tightness in his right leg and is day-to-day.

"Right now, knock on wood, we don't think he reinjured it," manager Tony La Russa said. "Probably give him a couple days off but we'll find out more tomorrow."

After having surgery on April 26 to repair a torn tendon in his right hamstring, Jimenez was on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Charlotte in early June when he experienced soreness and was shut down for 10 days.

At the time, general manager Rick Hahn said the leg discomfort was not a surprise.

"We expect that he's going to feel this, from time to time, over the course of the remainder of this season," Hahn said. "This is more a matter of, not to venture too far out of my lane, but as the scar tissue breaks, those become a little bit fewer and farther between over time. And the early ones are sort of more significant in terms of how they feel and how the player reacts."

Cleveland starter Aaron Civale left the game after only 1 inning with a wrist injury.

The White Sox scored both of their runs in the sixth off reliever Sam Hentges on Jose Abreu's run-scoring double and Andrew Vaughn's RBI groundout.