Another early onslaught put the Sox in control from the start, and this time, the cushion remained small enough to keep everybody locked in. Somehow, too-large leads are the only problem at this time.
The Sox racked up seven hits off Carlos Carrasco over the first two innings, and Gordon Beckham delivered the biggest blow. His two-run "single" off the right field wall in the second gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead. He should have had two bases, but he was forced to return to first after missing the bag. An Adam Dunn RBI groundout made it 5-0, and that would be all the Sox needed to do.
Edwin Jackson kept everybody on edge after a three-run second, though. Travis Hafner greeted him with a solo shot to right, and spotty control plagued him for the rest of the way, with plenty of sliders either high or spiked into the ground.
Brent Morel didn't help matters, either. With a runner on first and nobody out, Morel backed up on a spinning chopper, knocked it down with his glove, and rushing the throw forced an airmailing to first. Morel was credited with the double error, the runners moved to second and third, and both came around to score.
Jackson rebounded well enough to hold Cleveland scoreless afterward, even rattling off a couple of 1-2-3 innings. He finished with two earned runs on five hits and four walks over his six innings, striking out seven.
Morel redeemed himself somewhat, too, getting one of the runs back in the sixth. He singled with two outs, stole second with two strikes (very important, since he was able to wait out a Cleveland pitchout), then came around to score on a Juan Pierre single through the right side. Pierre would be caught in a rundown between first and second while trying to prevent Shin-Soo Choo from throwing home. Up to that point, Morel had the two errors and a botched sac bunt, so the high-effort insurance run was huge for him.
Carlos Quentin put the game out of reach with a two-out hit of his own one inning later, shooting a two-run double to the gap in right-center. Quentin has seven RBI through the first two games.
Another big lead provided the bullpen with a low-pressure opportunity to redeem itself. Chris Sale pitched an easy 1-2-3 inning, then started the eighth by striking out Travis Hafner, who had gone 2-for-3 off Jackson. An inexplicable, odd-sounding broken bat prevented his fly to right from leaving the yard his second time up.
Sergio Santos recorded the final five outs, pitching around a little bit of trouble. He shook off an infield single and a one-out walk by striking out Choo on a fastball, changeup and slider that sent a confused Choo back to the bench with a golden sombrero.
Record: 2-0 | Box score | Play-by-play