The White Sox offense, which scored five runs in the top of the ninth yesterday to defeat the Boston Red Sox, must have missed the plane back to Chicago. There were no late-inning heroics tonight.

Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo, who entered the game with a 0-3 record and a 7.71 ERA, took a perfect game into the seventh inning. There was no need to call your sons and daughters, though, as the 75 Million Dollar Man, Andrew Benintendi, broke it up with a two-out hit that dribbled through the right side.

After the pressure of the perfecto broke, the rookie threw a wild pitch, allowing Benny to take second. Then Andrew Vaughn followed with an RBI single, giving the Sox their first tally of the night.

Cantillo exited the game after the seventh, surrendering only that single run on two hits with 10 strikeouts. He tossed quite the gem in only his fifth big league appearance. Nick Sandlin came on in relief, and the Sox were happy to no longer see Cantillo’s nasty changeup. Lenyn Sosa led off with a base hit, and Bryan Ramos followed with a two-run bomb, the first of his major league career.

Sandlin did get Miguel Vargas to strike out, but Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt wasn’t going to mess around and called out Hunter Gaddis, who immediately got to business, securing the next two outs.

Chicago pitching couldn’t contain the AL Central first-place Guardians, who struck early, plating two at the top of the first off White Sox opener Jared Shuster. After serving up a solo shot to David Fry and a double to Josh Naylor in the top of the third, skipper Grady Sizemore called for Enyel De Los Santos. He mopped up the third, but in the fourth frame, the righthander allowed a round-tripper to the younger Naylor brother, Bo, giving the Guardians a 4-0 advantage.

The South Siders’ No. 5 prospect, Jairo Iriarte, was up next out of the arm barn and quickly ran into some trouble with a little help from a bad throw by shortstop Jacob Amaya in the fifth. After a walk to Steven Kwan and the fielding error by Amaya allowed David Fry to reach first, Iriarte walked José Ramírez to load the bases. The 22-year-old got the next two outs but then walked Jhonkensy Noel, forcing Kwan home and giving the Guardians a 5-0 lead. Free passes and sloppy defense are not a winning combination.

Nick Nastrini came out to secure the last out of the fifth and pitched for 3 1/3 innings. He packed the sacks in the sixth but lucked out when Fry hit into an unusual 5-2-3 double play.

Nastrini escaped the jam completely after José Ramírez followed up with a fly out to left. He quietly retired the side in order in the seventh and escaped the eighth unscathed despite giving up a single, a walk, and two stolen bases. The ninth inning belonged to Matt Foster, who held the Guardians scoreless. It ultimately didn’t matter because Emmanuel Clase, one of the best closers in the business, shut the door and earned his 43rd save. Loss No.112 secured.

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