Chicago White Sox pitcher Jonathan Cannon said it was “a long six days” since his last start against the Detroit Tigers.
“But I was excited to get back out there and get back on the right track,” he said.
Cannon made the proper adjustments after a tough outing to keep the Sox in Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, and the offense broke out late for an 11-3 victory in front of 21,490 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“I thought it was a good bounce-back from last week,” said Cannon, who allowed three runs on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 innings.
“I don’t think I had my best stuff but was able to battle with what I had. Sweeper’s normally my best pitch, didn’t really have it but was able to make do with what I did have.”
Cannon surrendered two home runs Saturday, but his teammates hit four as the Sox (24-61) won their third straight, tied for their second-longest winning streak of the season. They won four in a row May 8-11.
“Good pitching, good defense and we put the ball in the seats,” manager Pedro Grifol said.
A solo home run by Brendan Rodgers in the second and a two-run blast by Nolan Jones in the fifth gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead.
Lenyn Sosa’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth brought the Sox within one run.
Luis Robert Jr. tied the score, leading off the sixth with a 470-foot homer to center field. Paul DeJong gave the Sox the lead with a two-run home run later in the inning.
Korey Lee hit a three-run homer during a six-run eighth inning as the Sox secured a series win. It’s essentially their first series victory since winning two of three against the Washington Nationals May 14-15.
When asked for clarification in regards to Thursday’s makeup game against the Atlanta Braves, which the Sox won 1-0 after the teams split two games in April, a spokesperson from Elias said, “There is no ‘official’ rule when it comes to series wins or losses. Traditionally, we would only consider series something two games or longer, but again, there’s is no official designation/definition. I can confirm, however, that a makeup game does not retroactively apply to previous series of the postponed date, it is considered its own new game.”
Saturday’s 11 runs are the most for the team in a game this season. The previous high was nine, which had occurred twice (most recently June 15 against the Arizona Diamondbacks).
Cannon did not factor in Saturday’s decision — Tanner Banks got the win — but Grifol said the right-hander has “tremendous poise, doesn’t let the moment get to him.”
“Not afraid of anything, not afraid of contact,” Grifol said. “And he’s got some weapons.”
Cannon allowed eight runs (five earned) on seven hits in one-plus innings on June 23 at Comerica Park. The Tigers scored five runs in the first and four more in the second in an 11-2 rout.
Cannon made sure there would be no repeat Saturday, retiring the side in order in the first with three fly balls to left fielder Andrew Benintendi.
After surrendering the one-out home run to Rodgers in the second, Cannon retired the next eight straight. He walked Rodgers leading off the fifth, and Jones homered with one out, putting the Sox in the 3-0 hole.
“Just two fastballs in fastball counts and bad locations, and that’s really what it was today,” Cannon said. “I thought I made a lot of really good pitches, just both the mistakes got hit pretty hard.”
Sosa started the comeback for the Sox with his two-run homer in the fifth. And Robert tied it an inning later with his ninth home run of the season. The Sox weren’t done in the sixth, as DeJong put them ahead 5-3 with his team-leading 15th home run.
DeJong drove in one more with a single during the six-run eighth — the most the team has scored an inning this season. He scored on Lee’s three-run home run.
“This is what we have been missing for the whole year, consistency,” Robert said through an interpreter. “Sometimes the offense has been there. Some games the pitching has been there. Hopefully this is a good sign for us and we can be more consistent.”
Cannon is focused on that consistency as well.
“I didn’t take too much from what happened last week,” Cannon said. “I tried to put it behind me and focus on this week. I was proud of the way I was able to kind of battle through some adversity today, not having my best pitch and still being able to go out there and give our team a chance to win.”
