Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off single gives Chicago White Sox their 6th win in last 7 games to stay 3½ games out of 1st in AL Central

Elvis Andrus was on second, representing the game-winning run for the Chicago White Sox with one out in the ninth inning.

Andrew Benintendi, a left-handed hitter, was due up with the right-handed hitting Luis Robert Jr. on deck, leaving a tough choice for the Miami Marlins with right-handed reliever Dylan Floro on the mound.

They elected to intentionally walk Benintendi, setting up a potential inning-ending double play.

“It didn’t surprise me because he’s a pitcher that throws a lot of sinkers, and I thought their plan was to face me trying to get a ground ball. But at the same time, they were trying to not face a lefty,” Robert said through an interpreter.

Robert came through, ripping the second pitch past third baseman Jean Segura and down the left-field line for a game-winning single as the Sox beat the Marlins 2-1 in front of 21,023 on Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“For any athlete, the best thing you can do is help your team to win a game, and to me it was the most important thing,” Robert said. “It made me feel very good.”

The Sox (29-36) got excellent pitching and just enough offense for their sixth win in their last seven games. They remain 3½ games out of first place in the American League Central.

“We’ve been on a good stretch lately,” Sox starter Dylan Cease said. “We’ve played really well in all facets of the game. When we play like that, we’re going to be very hard to beat.”

Cease allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

“Dylan did a great job today,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He was phenomenal. Pounded the strike zone, used all of his pitches. Had a really good game plan, him and (catcher Yasmani Grandal). His fastball command was good. His slider was good, it was sharp. He threw some good breaking balls.

“I love the changeup and he threw some good ones there too to mix it up and just keep them honest on the other stuff. Got in a little bit of trouble there in the sixth and pitched his way out of it. That’s what No. 1s do.”

The Marlins had runners on second and third with one out and the score tied at 1 in the sixth.

The Sox brought the infield in and Jesús Sánchez hit a hard grounder to shortstop Tim Anderson, who fielded and threw home to cut down the lead runner at the plate.

“That was a hell of a play right there in a big time situation,” Grifol said of Anderson’s catch. “I think the ball was hit off the end a little. It had some really tough spin and he made a great play and a great throw.

“It was probably the play of the game.”

Then second baseman Andrus then tracked down Yuli Gurriel’s foul popup down the right-field line for the final out to keep the score tied.

Keynan Middleton, Kendall Graveman and Liam Hendriks followed with scoreless innings for the Sox, putting the team in position for another walk-off win like the final two games of the last homestand against the Detroit Tigers.

The Sox offense came up empty in earlier chances, including not scoring after loading the bases with no outs in the third. Grifol didn’t get frustrated.

“You know why, because that’s good pitching over there,” he said. “We know the kind of baseball we have to play against these guys. It’s two good teams with really good pitching.”

Andrus began the ninth with his second single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Anderson struck out and Benintendi was intentionally walked to set the stage for Robert.

The center fielder was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts at that point. He also reached on catcher’s interference in his fourth plate appearance.

“Every at-bat is different,” Robert said. “In one at-bat, they can try to get you with breaking balls. And then the next one, you make the adjustments.”

Robert swung and miss on a first-pitch slider. He got another one the next pitch and connected for the game-ending hit.

“That’s why you get four at-bats, five at-bats per game,” Grifol said. “You can be 0-for-3 and get the game-winner right there. That’s why every at-bat is different and you’ve got to separate at-bats.

“You’ve got to flush the previous at-bat. Because you never know when you’re going to get that chance to win a game. And you know what, he got a good pitch to hit that he can handle and he won the game for us.”

()