Burger Powers White Sox After Clevinger Exits With Scary Arm Injury

Mike Clevinger left Thursday night’s game early with a scary-looking injury to his right arm. The White Sox starter had been outdueling Clayton Kershaw holding the Dodgers scoreless through 4.2 innings and striking out five. 

He ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth inning with runners at the corners but was just one pitch away from escaping the jam. With a 1-2 count, he fired a 95.3 mph four-seam fastball that  JD Martinez fouled off. After releasing the pitch, Clevinger turned around and then grabbed for his bicep before dropping to a crouch in pain. 

Pedro Grifol wasted no time rushing to the mound to check on his starter and he was replaced by Gregory Santos soon after. Santos completed the inning by striking out Martinez. 

“I saw him go down and I immediately went out there and called for the trainer,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters after the game. “Pitchers just don’t go down like that.”

The White Sox categorized the injury as right bicep soreness. Clevinger missed the entire 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. A serious injury could be detrimental to his career. He will be reevaluated on Thursday afternoon. 

“Felt my biceps grab. Never really felt something like that. It grabbed pretty hard, kind of scared me,” Clevinger said. “Felt like a hamstring grabbing. Got back the training room, did some testing. The testing went all right. I can flex, make a muscle with my biceps. I guess that’s the positive news out of all this. We’ll get an image and see what’s going on.”

While the Clevinger injury took some wind out of the White Sox sails, Jake Burger led the charge on offense to help secure a gutty 8-4 victory. Burger logged the first multi-home run game of his career, including a game-tying two-run homer off the foul pole in the 

Aside from helping propel the White Sox offense with three RBIs and two runs scored, the milestone carried some added significance for Burger. 

His two blasts traveled a total of 773 feet, which is the same area code that covers most of Chicago. 

“It’s incredible. I’m fortunate to get it,” Burger said. “[Andrew Vaughn] is still going to give me some crap about it. Anybody can hit two. Why didn’t I hit three? 

“Definitely fortunate. Hopefully, keep that same swing going into tomorrow.”

Burger increased his home run total to 15 on the season to go along with his 35 RBIs. Both are the second-highest on the team. His first home run came in the second inning off of future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is the Dodger's all-time strikeout leader, making the homer extra special for the Burger family. 

“My wife’s family grew up Dodgers fans, so it’s a house split, for sure,” said told MLB.com. “But her grandpa passed away a couple of years ago and was the biggest Dodgers fan. Then [it meant] a little more hitting it off Kershaw and being here at Dodger Stadium.”