Joey Cantillo had a perfect game going until the seventh inning as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 last night.

On the radio, Tom Hamilton was mentioning that a Cleveland pitcher hasn’t thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981.

As soon as he said those words, Andrew Benintendi broke up the perfect game with a single.

Let’s go back to the days when we don’t jinx the pitcher!

PILE UP THE RUNS

While Cantillo (1-3) was shutting down the White Sox, Cleveland was gradually gathering runs.

Josh Naylor singled in the first inning to score Steven Kwan. Naylor scored on a double by Lane Thomas, who has gone from cold to hot since arriving from Washington.

David Fry blasted a solo homer to center field in the third inning. His 14th homer of the year traveled 414 feet.

Bo Naylor topped him in the fourth inning with his 12th homer, a 428-foot bomb that got stuck in the hedges beyond the center field fence.

The Guardians increased the lead to 5-0 in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk by Jhonkensy Noel.

IT’S NOT THAT EASY

With this much offense and Cantillo flirting with a perfect game, you would think this would be an easy win. But this was no guaranteed win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

After Benintendi broke up the perfect game, he advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Andrew Vaughn.

Nick Sandlin came in from the bullpen and gave up a two-run homer in the eighth to Bryan Ramos.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt called on the big guns in the bullpen, with the usual success.

Hunter Gaddis finished the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase put away the Sox in the ninth. Clase earned his 43rd save, including his 30th in a row.

Cleveland will try to expand its 49½-game lead on the Sox, who are on pace to be the worst team of all time.

Ben Lively (11-9) will start for the Guardians, while the Sox will go with Jonathan Cannon (3-9).