White Sox held to 2 hits in 4-2 loss to Guardians in Game 1 of split doubleheader

CHICAGO — Luis Robert Jr. launched a two-run home run to left field in the second inning during Game 1 of Friday's split doubleheader at Rate Field. The Chicago White Sox had just one more hit, a Chase Meidroth single leading off the ninth, in a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in front of 12,869 for the makeup game. "Great job by (Robert), love to see the power there from him," manager Will Venable said. "But yeah, we've got to find ways to get (Guardians starter) Logan Allen on the ropes a little bit there and put the pressure on him." Allen allowed two runs on one hit with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings. "Really nothing going, outside of the (Austin) Slater ball (lining out to left in the third) I don't even remember really any hard contact," Venable said. "Credit to Logan Allen, but we've got to find a way to be better." The Sox completed the game without first baseman Tim Elko, who exited before the fifth inning with right knee soreness. Miguel Vargas moved from third base to first and Colson Montgomery entered at third. The Sox were evaluating Elko after Game 1. Before Game 2, the Sox placed Elko on the 10-day injured list and recalled outfielder Will Robertson from Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox on Thursday acquired Robertson, 27, from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations. Rain postponed the series opener a day. While the Sox sputtered offensively, the Guardians found just enough success at the plate, getting home runs from Daniel Schneemann, Angel Martínez and Carlos Santana. Schneemann and Martínez hit back-to-back solo shots against Sox starter Shane Smith in the second inning. Robert tied it in the bottom of the second with his two-run blast. But Santana put the Guardians ahead for good with a two-run home run against reliever Tyler Alexander in the sixth. It was a shortened outing for Smith, who allowed the two runs on two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in three innings during his final start before the All-Star break. "With the back to back (starts on) five days and game planning for the year, just making sure we were keeping mindful of the workload," Smith said. Added Venable: "Being that he's had just normal rest the last few, and as we try to find ways to navigate the season with him, just thought a shorter outing was appropriate today." Smith showed flashes of the form that made the rookie an All-Star, striking out four of the first five batters. But there were also the hiccups with the back-to-back home runs. "I felt good," Smith said. "I felt like it was the best step in the right direction so far. Facing an eight out of nine lefty lineup, throwing the change-up for strikes early on. Maybe one too many curveballs they were sitting on for the homer. But I'll live with that. "Throwing fastballs for strikes, sitting on the outside corner for most of it and elevating later in the counts." Venable saw several positives from Smith's outing. "I thought it was good, I thought he had some good results on the breaking ball there early," he said. "And then (the Guardians) did a good job covering it, both the curveball and slider on the homers. Outside of that, I thought it was a solid outing." And now comes a possible All-Star appearance Tuesday. "If they give me the ball, I'm definitely going to throw," Smith said. "No matter what."