PITTSBURGH — Hitting has not been an issue for the Chicago White Sox.
They got the pitching to match in an 11-5 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday in front of 21,162 at PNC Park.
Mike Clevinger pitched into the sixth inning and the bullpen did the rest to even the series at one game apiece.
“It was a really good day as a team,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “(Starting) pitching was good, bullpen was good and the hitting was really good and we ran the bases really well.”
The Sox got production throughout the lineup, finishing with 14 hits. Four of the top five players in the batting order — Tim Anderson, Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn — had two hits. So did the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters, Yasmani Grandal and Oscar Colás.
The Sox have had at least 10 hits in eight of their nine games.
“We’ve been able to come together and make each other better,” Anderson said. “We do our homework and come up with a plan and stick with it, and it’s been working for us, so hopefully we keep riding that momentum.”
Grandal, Colás and No. 9 hitter Elvis Andrus each had two RBIs, as did Robert.
The Sox had a four-run third inning, which included Grandal’s two-run single. And they had a five-run seventh inning that featured Robert’s two-run single.
“The bottom of the order had six RBIs,” Grifol said. “Our lineup is deep. When the bottom of the order is performing like that and the top of the order has the ability that it has, it will be a handful for anybody.
“The most important thing for me is that we ran the bases really well, we shrunk the strike zone. We put the ball in play, we had six walks. We left the (at-bat) for the next guy. We took our walks. Leave it for the next guy. This lineup is deep and part of the advantages of having a deep lineup is you know what take your walks and leave it for the next guy and that’s what we did.”
Clevinger didn’t mind waiting through a long top of the third to get back on the mound.
“(Benintendi) was talking about, ‘Man you had to wait a while,’ ” Clevinger said. “I was like, ‘Make me wait as long as possible.’”
Clevinger allowed four runs on eight hits with one strikeout and two walks in 5⅓ innings. He provided some length after Sox starters didn’t make it at least through the fifth in three of the previous four games.
“It was a battle,” he said. “Kind of struggling to get the heater to drive straight. I was leaking a little bit. Some really good defense behind me. And (Grandal) working behind the plate. Lucky to have this offense behind me to make it more comfortable.”
Said Grifol of Clevinger: “He pounds the strike zone. He loves to compete. He goes right at these guys.”
Kelly relieved Clevinger, entering with a runner on second and one out in the sixth and the Sox holding a 6-4 lead. Kelly induced a groundout and strikeout to preserve the two-run advantage.
“Kelly came in in a tough situation and he did what Kelly does,” Grifol said. “Kelly has the ability to slow it down, and he’s got great stuff to add to that. He’s really good at that.
“That was a big inning. He shut the door and gave us the chance to come back on the offensive side and put some runs on the board.”
The Sox had five consecutive hits during the five-run seventh to put the game out of reach. Aaron Bummer, Kendall Graveman and Reynaldo López combined to allow one run on two hits in the final three innings, striking out four.
“It was a really good day on the offensive side, but I was really proud of our pitching,” Grifol said. “Clevinger did a really nice job, and our bullpen is really, really good. They showed today what they’re capable of.”
