Chicago White Sox suggest Guardians might have cheated

The Chicago White Sox took a brief 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning via a three-run homer by Miguel Vargas with two outs in wet conditions on Friday night.

Then came a rain delay that was full of controversy.

While rain had been falling during Vargas’ at-bat, umpires called for the tarp to come out following the home run.

The delay caused the White Sox to pull starting pitcher Anthony Kay before the bottom of the fifth inning. He gave up one earned run and one hit in four innings pitched. He told reporters after the game that he was hoping to pitch at least two more innings and felt like the two teams could have played another 20 to 30 minutes in what he called “light rain.”

Kay felt the way Cleveland brought out the tarp showed poor gamesmanship.

“But the second that Vargas hits that home run, they pull the tarp,” Kay said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “So there definitely was some bull— on their part to get me out of the game. It’s pretty messed up for them to do something like that and get me out of the game that way.”

“I stayed in the dugout for probably 15 more minutes. We played through it up until Vargas hit the homer. I don’t even think he was finished rounding the bases when they pulled the tarp out. So there was definitely some gamesmanship, and I don’t think it was right for them to do that.”

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Chicago White Sox unhappy with Guardians ground crew

Jul 3, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; The Cleveland Guardians grounds crew put down a field tarp during a rain delay in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

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But the tarp came out via the umpires’ decision, which wasn’t the fault of the Guardians. Still, White Sox manager Will Venable didn’t appreciate how the Guardians’ ground crew dumped water in the outfield.

“With Colson (Montgomery), just deep into the grass there, wasn’t able to stop that ball from getting by him,” Venable said. “And then (Sam Antonacci), that’s where they dumped all the water. It was a mess out there. He’s coming in hard trying to make a play, and it just got by him.”

The Guardians tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning thanks to hits into a sloppy-looking outfield that Montgomery and Antonacci had a hard time fielding in the wet conditions.

Cleveland wound up winning the game 4-3 in front of 33,646 fans at Progressive Field. In the midst of a three-game losing streak for Chicago, the Guardians now have a one-game lead in the AL Central before the two teams play on Saturday night.

No doubt, the White Sox will have some extra motivation to beat Cleveland on Saturday night and Sunday to end the critical four-game series.

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