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White Sox win wild 4-gamer vs Guardians (3–1) and hit the All-Star break at 40–57, CLE at 49–47.

Big picture

Two extra-inning epics (one win, one loss) sandwiched around a pair of tight, low-scoring White Sox victories.

Offense: 21 runs in 4 games, with Luis Robert Jr. and Tirso Ornelas driving the bus and Kyle Teel having a huge impact late in the set.

Pitching: Rotation showed real promise – especially Shane Smith and All-Star Mike Vasil – while the bullpen had some serious roller-coaster moments but ultimately closed out three straight one-run games.

Roster churn: Travis Jankowski released; Mike Clevinger DFA’d after getting knocked around; Brandon Eisert optioned. Tyler Schweitzer and Sean Burke come up and immediately slot into the middle-relief picture.

Honors: Mike Vasil named to his first MLB All-Star team; top prospect Hagen Smith tabbed for the Futures / Prospects Game.

Game 1 – 7/10: Sox 8, Guardians 7 (12 inn.)

Absolute marathon.

Early swings: Robert walked and scored on a Tirso Ornelas RBI double in the 1st, but Kyle Manzardo answered with a 3-run shot off Inohan Paniagua in the 3rd. Chase Meidroth’s solo homer cut it to 3–2.

Sixth-inning flip: Down 3–2, the Sox loaded the bases and Ornelas rifled an RBI single to tie it; chaos on the back end of the play brought a second run home for a 4–3 lead.

Late chaos: Penn Murfee couldn’t close it in the 8th; walks and an Angel Martinez single tied it 4–4. In extras, Cleveland took a 5–4 lead in the 10th, then a 7–5 lead in the 11th on Manzardo’s second homer of the night.

Hero time: Ornelas answered with a game-tying 2-run blast in the bottom of the 11th. In the 12th, Miguel Vargas started as the ghost runner, Kyle Teel drew an intentional walk, and Bryan Ramos shot a game-winning RBI single to right for the 8–7 walk-off.

Pitching: Paniagua (3 IP, 3 ER) left early; Shuster and Minter were good; Murfee and Wilson both gave up big extra-inning runs before Brandon Eisert finally slammed the door and picked up the win.

Notes: Benintendi left after a baserunning injury during the rain-delayed 3rd but clearly avoided anything serious since he played the rest of the series.

Game 2 – 7/11: Guardians 9, Sox 8 (10 inn.)

This one slipped through your fingers.

Back-and-forth early: Cleveland put up two in the 2nd, but Rosario and Rojas helped answer in the 3rd. By the 5th, thanks to another Benintendi gapper and a Vargas sac fly, you led 4–2.

Guardians rally: Mike Clevinger’s relief stint went sideways in the 6th as Thomas, Arias, Ingle, and Schneemann strung together hits to tie it 4–4.

Sox punch back: Eguy Rosario’s 6th-inning solo homer and a 7th-inning three-run push (Ornelas double, Benintendi walk, Quero two-run double) had you up 7–4.

Bullpen unraveling: In the 8th, Burke/Eisert/Taylor/Ellard couldn’t find the shutdown inning; walks and base hits from Arias, Ingle, Santana, Valdes, and Jones put up three and tied it again at 7–7.

Extras heartbreak: Juan Brito’s 2-run homer off Grant Taylor in the 10th made it 9–7. You did get one back on an error at first and had the bases loaded, but Stephen Ridings induced a game-ending fielder’s choice.

POG: Cooper Ingle (three hits, table-setter all night).

Injuries: CF Angel Martinez and 1B Carlos Santana both left with baserunning injuries for Cleveland.

Game 3 – 7/12: Sox 2, Guardians 1

Old-school pitching duel.

Shane Smith arrives: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K, pounding the zone and working out of traffic in the early innings.

Robert strikes first: Luis Robert Jr. jumped Bibee for a solo shot to dead center in the 2nd.

Guardians answer: Kyle Manzardo stayed hot, tying it with a solo homer in the 7th.

Teel clutch moment: In the bottom of the 7th, Kyle Teel answered immediately with a go-ahead solo homer, chasing Bibee.

Lockdown pen: Wilson bridged from mid-6th into the 8th, and Sean Burke recorded the final four outs for the save, overpowering the middle of Cleveland’s order.

You win 2–1 despite being out-hit; perfect “win anyway” kind of game.

Game 4 – 7/13: Sox 3, Guardians 1

Vasil’s All-Star statement game.

Early blemish: Daniel Schneemann tagged Mike Vasil for a solo homer in the 2nd.

Answering right away: In the 4th, after Meidroth and Ornelas reached, Eliezer Alfonzo dropped a two-out RBI single into left to tie it 1–1.

Taking the lead: In the 5th, Samuel Zavala singled, Robert walked, and with two outs Tirso Ornelas punched an RBI single through the right side for a 2–1 edge.

Insurance via chaos: In the 7th, Robert reached on a Carlos Santana error and eventually scored on a passed ball while Rosario was hitting, pushing it to 3–1.

Pitching line: Vasil (5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 7 K) was very good again, and the Ellard–Shuster–Murfee trio faced 10 batters and allowed just two hits to close it calmly.

Right after the game, Vasil is officially named to the 2025 AL All-Star team, and top prospect Hagen Smith earns a Futures Game nod – nice organizational W.

Sox takeaways

1. Rotation foundation is real

Vasil’s first half: 3.03 ERA, 19 starts, 119 IP, ERA+ ~140ish and a solid workload. He looks like a legit mid-rotation horse with room for more.

Shane Smith keeps stacking big-league outings; his mix plays against a good lineup, and he handled adversity with poise.

With Paniagua still learning and guys like Clevinger out of the picture, the path is clear for a young rotation core built around Vasil, Smith, and eventually Hagen Smith.

2. Ornelas and Robert are becoming the offensive engine

Ornelas: huge series – multiple doubles, a walk-off-forcing homer in Game 1, the go-ahead knock in Game 4, and constant traffic generated.

Robert: homers in Games 2 and 3, a 420-ft blast in Game 3, plus walks and steals. Even when he’s not driving runs he’s dictating at-bats and stressing defenses.

3. Catcher situation looks promising

Quero and Teel both had big run-producing swings (Quero’s late-inning doubles, Teel’s game-tying / go-ahead homers and clutch singles).

Defensively they handled a very busy, shuffled pitching staff through two marathon games and two tight ones – a good sign long-term.

4. Bullpen: high-leverage volatility

Murfee, Minter, Wilson, Eisert, Burke, Ellard, Taylor… they were all in this series.

You saw the full spectrum: blown saves and extra-inning rockets allowed, but also scoreless stretches to seal Games 3 and 4.

The demotion of Eisert and DFA of Clevinger, plus the promotions of Schweitzer and Burke, show you’re actively sorting out who you can trust after the break.

Guardians notes

Kyle Manzardo absolutely torched you: three homers in the set and a pile of extra-base damage, repeatedly flipping game states.

The top of their order (Valdes, Jones, Ramirez) lived on base, but your staff kept them mostly to single runs outside of the wild innings in Games 1–2.

Cleveland’s pen was just as erratic: Sewald, Herrin, Lively, and Clase all mixed shutdown frames with big blown leads.

Where this leaves you

Record: 40–57, but with a 3–1 series win against a winning club and three straight one-run games to close the “half,” the team feels more competitive than the record.

Momentum:

Vasil’s All-Star nod and Hagen Smith’s Futures selection give you a clear internal narrative: the pitching pipeline is finally taking shape.

Offensively, Ornelas/Robert/Teel/Rosario look like core pieces you can keep building around.

The bullpen is still your biggest on-field question mark, but you’re starting to separate keepers from placeholders.