TORONTO — Shane Bieber allowed three hits Saturday afternoon. All three were doubles. Two led off innings. Neither runner scored.
That gap between contact and consequence defined Toronto’s 1-0 win over the White Sox at Rogers Centre, where Bieber and three relievers combined on a four-hitter to snap Chicago’s four-game winning streak and hand Bieber his first victory in five starts this season.
Bieber (1-1) pitched six innings, striking out six and walking two. The leadoff doubles — Munetaka Murakami in the fourth, Braden Montgomery in the fifth — each put a runner 90 feet from scoring with nobody out. Run expectancy in that situation sits around 1.1 runs per inning. Bieber surrendered zero, both times.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. provided all the offense Toronto needed. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, doubling to left-center in the fourth and scoring when George Springer followed with a grounder up the middle. The RBI single was Springer’s only hit, and the run stood up for the final five innings.
Davis Martin (9-5) was nearly Bieber’s equal despite extending his own winless streak to six starts. The White Sox right-hander allowed four hits over 5⅔ innings, walked two, and struck out five. His record still reads like an All-Star’s; his last six outings tell a different story.
Chicago’s best late-inning chance came in the eighth, when Chase Meidroth reached on a bunt single against Tyler Rogers. Pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña broke for second and was thrown out, erasing the tying run before it could reach scoring position. Jeff Hoffman handled the seventh. All-Star closer Louis Varland worked a clean ninth for his 20th save in 20 chances, and Andrew Benintendi’s popup ended it.
The shutout was Toronto’s seventh this season. The White Sox fell to 7-13 against AL East opponents.
Before the first pitch, more than two dozen members of Toronto’s 1992 and 1993 World Series teams gathered on the field for the unveiling of a statue depicting Joe Carter celebrating his walk-off home run off Mitch Williams — the swing that ended the ’93 Series and, for one Philadelphia kid who kept box scores at the kitchen table, introduced the concept of irreversible sports heartbreak.
The statue captures Carter mid-leap, arms raised, the moment the World Series was decided north of the border for the first time. Dozens of alumni from both championship rosters attended the ceremony.
Toronto right-hander Trey Yesvage (4-4, 3.72 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale against Chicago right-hander Sean Burke (6-4, 3.41 ERA).
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