Swisher propels Tribe

Cleveland beats White Sox for 3rd time in 24 hours

Cleveland’s Nick Swisher hits an RBI-single in the eighth inning that drives in the go-ahead run against the Chicago White Sox.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cleveland’s Nick Swisher hits an RBI-single in the eighth inning that drives in the go-ahead run against the Chicago White Sox.

CHICAGO — The boos Nick Swisher heard before his first plate appearance were nothing compared to the reception he received after his tiebreaking single in the eighth.

The Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera is all smiles after scoring what proved to be the game-winning run on Nick Swisher's hit in the eighth inning in Chicago on Saturday.

Swisher’s single helped the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox for the third time in less than 24 hours, 4-3 Saturday.

His homer in the ninth inning Friday night propelled Cleveland to a sweep of a marathon doubleheader.

“It’s that never die attitude,” Swisher said. “I just feel like we keep fighting. We keep doing our thing. This is a good squad.”

This time, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, and Swisher hit consecutive one-out singles off Jesse Crain (2-3) in the eighth. Crain allowed his first earned run since April 12. He went 31 outings before Saturday without giving up an earned run.

“It’s one of those he’s always going to come in, kind of the toughest situations,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “That eighth inning’s just one of those, depending on where that lineup is, it’s usually a nasty situation. It’s impressive just kind of the run he’s been on.”

Joe Martinez (1-0), called up from Triple-A Columbus Saturday, earned the victory in his first major league appearance this season. He pitched two innings and held Chicago to two hits and no runs with one strikeout.

“He really clutched up,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said about Martinez. “That’s not the easiest situation to be put into.

“It’s not like there was a safety net there,” Francona added. “He did really well.”

Cleveland closer Chris Perez earned his seventh save in nine attempts.

Kipnis tied the game 3-all with a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Kipnis said he caught a cutter from White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Axelrod. Michael Bourn started the inning with a walk and Cabrera flew out to right field before Kipnis homered beyond the bullpen in right field.

“It wasn’t a big swing,” said Kipnis, who has a 12-game hitting streak and has reached base in 32 consecutive games. “It was more reacting in and letting the hands do the work. I got it well enough.”

Chicago rallied with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Conor Gillaspie and Dayan Viciedo had back-to-back RBI singles to score Alex Rios and Jeff Keppinger. Catcher Tyler Flowers had a chance to add on but struck out looking with the bases loaded.

Cleveland’s Cabrera hit his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 1 in the fourth inning.

NOTES: White Sox 1B/​DH Paul Konerko took batting practice Saturday, his first action since last playing June 23 in Kansas City. Konerko, who has pain in the lower right side of his back, doesn’t think he’s headed to the disabled list and hopes to play today. Ventura said Konerko probably won’t play today but there’s a good chance he would be in the lineup Tuesday against Baltimore. ... Francona was surprised to hear Friday’s doubleheader was the longest in Major League history. “I guess that’s the one advantage to waking up every day feeling [lousy], you really don’t feel all that different.” ... Chicago will start Chris Sale (5-6, 2.75 ERA) and Cleveland starts Justin Masterson (9-6, 3.76) in today’s series closer at 1:10 p.m.

Late Friday

CHICAGO — Nick Swisher hit a solo homer to cap a four-run ninth inning against Addison Reed Friday night, lifting the Cleveland Indians to a 9-8 victory over the Chicago White Sox for a sweep of the longest doubleheader by time for two nine-inning games.

Reed (3-1) entered with an 8-5 lead in the ninth but quickly ran into trouble, blowing his fourth save in 25 chances.

He started the inning by giving up three straight singles to Ryan Raburn, pinch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera, and Michael Bourn to make it a two-run game. He then threw a wild pitch to pinch-hitter Jason Giambi, allowing Cabrera to score.

Jason Kipnis then tied it with a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in Bourn, and Swisher drilled a long homer to right with two outs on a 3-2 pitch to put Cleveland ahead.

That made a winner of Matt Langwell (1-0), who got his first career win even though he allowed two runs in the eighth.

Vinnie Pestano walked Wells with one out in the ninth but struck out three for his sixth save in eight chances, finishing a game that lasted 3:51 and ended just after 2 a.m. on the East Coast.