The Chicago White Sox lose Mike Clevinger mid-fifth inning but rally to top the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 – The Denver Post

Mike Clevinger had just thrown the fourth pitch of a fifth-inning battle with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter J.D. Martinez, which was fouled off.

The Chicago White Sox starter walked behind the mound in obvious pain.

The training staff checked on the right-hander, who exited the game with right biceps soreness. He will be evaluated Thursday.

The Sox lost Clevinger, but rallied with three runs in the eighth and beat the Dodgers 8-4 for one of their best wins of the season in front of 44,442 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

“That was a gutsy win,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “This is a much-needed win in a tough place to play. It’s a really big win.”

The game had several momentum turns. Jake Burger and Luis Robert Jr. homered to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers took the lead with four runs in a sloppy sixth inning for the Sox.

Burger tied the game in the eighth with a two-run homer, his second long ball of the game. Clint Frazier gave the Sox the lead with an RBI single on a nine-pitch at-bat later in the inning.

“It was just good at-bats,” Grifol said of the eighth. “The nine-pitch at-bat by Frazier was huge. Just kept fouling balls off. It was a big-time at-bat.”

The Sox added three more in the ninth to snap a three-game losing streak with the impressive victory. The power went out in the ballpark before the start of the bottom of the ninth, adding a strange moment to a game filled with twists and turns.

“I was confused,” Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi said of the outage. “I didn’t know what was going on and started walking back in toward the dugout. You never know what can happen.”

The night began with Clevinger having one of his best outings of the season, allowing three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

He gave up one hit through the first four innings, a single by Miguel Rojas in the second.

Rojas began the fifth with a single, followed by a single from Austin Barnes.

Facing the top of the order, Clevinger got Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to pop out to first baseman Andrew Vaughn and third baseman Burger, respectively.

Clevinger then faced Martinez. He got ahead with two strikes. With the count 1-2, Clevinger threw a fastball that was fouled off and immediately indicated he was hurting.

“It felt like my biceps grabbed,” Clevinger later said. “Felt similar to a hamstring grabbing during the spring. It grabbed pretty hard, kind of scared me. But I got back in the training room and did some testing, seems the testing went all right.

“We’ll get an image and see what’s going on.”

Gregory Santos entered and got the final strike to end the inning and preserve the 2-0 lead.

But the Dodgers rallied in a sixth inning that featured three pitchers and an ejection.

Santos allowed three singles to begin the inning. Frazier’s throw to the plate skipped away from catcher Yasmani Grandal. Santos wasn’t backing up behind the plate and a run scored, cutting the lead to 2-1.

With the bases loaded and one out, reliever Aaron Bummer got Barnes to hit a grounder to Tim Anderson. The shortstop charged and tried to get the force at second, but everyone was safe.

A run scored on the play to tie the game.

Grifol said he wanted to challenge the call and didn’t get the opportunity. He argued and was ejected.

“I like to get a look at almost every single play,” Grifol said. “We had plenty of time on the clock. They said I didn’t have my hand up. I was making eye contact with the first-base umpire. They’re going to have their story and I’ll have mine.”

Betts broke the tie with a two-run single against reliever Joe Kelly. In the span of two innings, the Sox had lost a starter to injury, a manager to ejection and a lead.

The Sox fought back in the eighth. Eloy Jiménez doubled to begin the inning and Burger followed with the homer off the left-field foul pole to tie the game at 4.

“With my reaction, I didn’t know if it was going to stay fair or not,” Burger said. “I’m not one to pimp home runs very often. I was just trying to control what I can control and let the ball come to me rather than trying to create.”

Benintendi got hit with a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Frazier drove him home with the single to center to win the nine-pitch showdown with Alex Vesia.

“Hitting is contagious,” Grifol said. “There’s no doubt we have the potential to do some damage offensively. We’ve just got to continue to work the strike zone and get the freaking ball off the ground. When we put the ball in the air, we have enough power to do some damage.”

Jiménez had an RBI single and Benintendi knocked in two with a single in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

And now the Sox await word on Clevinger, who was on the injured list May 18toJune 2 with right wrist inflammation.

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