Sheets hits 2 HRs, White Sox beat Pirates 6-3
Rookie Gavin Sheets hit 2 home runs, leading the White Sox to a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Sheets, who was promoted from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, hit a 3-run homer off Max Kranick (1-3) with two out in the fourth inning to snap a scoreless tie.
After the Pirates left the tying run stranded at first base, Sheets hit a solo shot off reliever Duane Underwood Jr. in the bottom of the eighth for his eighth homer of the season.
The Sox (78-56) won for the fifth time in six games are 22 games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 13, 2006 (84-62). The Pirates (48-85) have dropped four of five.
White Sox starter Carlos Rodon (10-5) pitched five innings of 5-hit ball. Rondon has allowed 3 runs while striking out 19 in his last 15 innings, covering three starts.
Liam Hendriks bailed Ryan Tepera out of a jam in the eighth and earned his 31st save. Hendriks has converted all nine save chances in which he has pitched at least 1 1/3 innings.
Pirates right-fielder Cole Tucker, batting leadoff for the first time this season, snapped an 0-for-9 performance against left-handers this season by hitting a two-out RBI single in the fifth.
But a throwing error by Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman on a potential inning-ending double play led to 2 runs in the bottom of the inning, capped by Leury Garcia's double.
White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada hit an infield single in the fifth to extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games. Catcher Yasmani Grandal collected 2 hits and is 9 for 17 (.529) in four games since returning from the 10-day injured list.
Kranick was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis before the game and started in place of Mitch Keller, so he could stay on his regular schedule, manager Derek Shelton said.
The Pirates set a modern major league record by playing their 175 consecutive game without being charged with a passed ball, surpassing the previous mark set by the Montreal Expos from June 10, 1978, to June 26, 1979, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.