Lane Thomas has 4 RBIs to lead Guardians over White Sox 6-4

CHICAGO (AP) — Lane Thomas had four RBIs and the Cleveland Guardians held on behind their bullpen to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 on Wednesday for a three-game series sweep.

Austin Hedges added a solo home run for the AL Central-leading Guardians, who moved 4 1/2 games ahead of second-place Kansas City when the Royals lost 4-3 in 11 innings at Yankee Stadium. Cleveland and New York are tied for the best record in the American League.

The Guardians finished 6-3 on a three-city trip that included stops in Kansas City and at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

“I feel incredible about it,” first-year Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “This was a tough road trip, this late in the year to be gone through three cities and play some tough teams."

Chicago dropped a franchise-record 15th straight at home, lost its 17th in 19 overall and was swept for the 24th time. At 33-114, the White Sox are closing in on the post-1900 record for losses — 120 by the 1962 New York Mets in their inaugural season.

Thomas drove in his four runs on a pair of infield singles with two outs when Cleveland runners on second and third were in motion and able to race home. He beat out a tapper to third, then a hard bouncer that second baseman Lenyn Sosa ranged to corral at the edge of the outfield grass. He had three hits overall.

“Not only are our baserunners busting, you know, down the line ... they were thinking score right off the bat,” Vogt said. "That's the baserunning we talk about from spring training.

“That's how these guys always run the bases. They don't take any out for granted.”

Thomas is batting .405 (15 for 37) with three homers and nine RBIs in September.

“That's a good 10-day stretch," Thomas said. “I'm just going to try to keep being consistent with the work and build off what we're doing right now. It's been fun and I feel like we're winning some games right now. So just keep that, you know, just carry that through the rest of September.”

Steven Kwan had two hits and scored twice. Sosa and Bryan Ramos each had two hits for Chicago.

Nick Sandlin (8-0), the first of four Cleveland relievers, got four outs for the win. Starter Matthew Boyd allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits, striking out nine in 4 1/3 innings.

The Guardians bullpen allowed just two hits. Emmanuel Clasé worked around a single in the ninth for his 44th save.

Chicago’s Davis Martin (0-4) yielded five runs on six hits in three innings.

“Everybody pissed,” Martin said. “Every time we go score four runs for me, it's like, hey, that's well in the ballpark for us to get a victory. It's my job to set the tone.”

The White Sox cut their deficit to 5-4 in the third inning, scoring three of four runs unearned following Andrés Giménez's throwing error. They loaded the bases with none out, then scored on Sosa’s single, Boyd’s balk, Vargas’ groundout and Dominic Fletcher’s infield hit.

Cleveland tacked on an insurance run in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: RHP Ben Lively is expected to make his next scheduled start, on Sunday against Tampa Bay, after being hit on the outside of his right thigh by Dominic Fletcher’s liner in the second inning of his start on Tuesday. Lively left the game after he briefly lost feeling in the leg, but said he only suffered a painful bruise. “It could have been a lot worse,” Chris Antonetti, Guardians president of baseball operations said. … RHP James Karinchak, out all season with right shoulder inflammation, has joined Triple-A Columbus on a rehab assignment and is expected to pitch in “competitive games,” Antonetti said.

White Sox: OF Andrew Benintendi didn't start (maintenance), but pinch hit in the eighth.

UP NEXT

Guardians: RHP Gavin Williams (3-8, 5.25) faces Tampa Bay RHP Ryan Pepiot (8-6, 3.66) on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series in Cleveland on Thursday.

White Sox: LHP Garrett Crochet (6-11, 3.83) starts on Friday against Oakland. The Athletics hadn't named a starter for the opener of their six-game visit to Chicago — with three against the White Sox followed by three at the Cubs.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians starter Matthew Boyd throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase, right, celebrates with catcher Austin Hedges, after defeating the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase celebrates after defeating the Chicago White Sox 6-4 in a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa watches his RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin reacts after giving up a solo home run to Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges during the third inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians' Lane Thomas watches his 2 RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians' Lane Thomas, right, is tagged out at second base while trying to steal by Chicago White Sox shortstop Jake Amaya, left, during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, left, celebrates with Steven Kwan (38) at the dugout after scoring on a Lane Thomas 2 RBI single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cleveland Guardians' Lane Thomas watches his 2 RBI single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

AVIGNON, France (AP) — A 71-year-old French man admitted in court Tuesday that for nearly a decade, he repeatedly drugged his unwitting wife and invited dozens of men to rape her while she lay unconscious in their bed.

His wife of 50 years, who has divorced him since his arrest, also got to speak, telling the court that she feels completely betrayed.

In a trial that has gripped France and raised awareness about sexual violence in the home and beyond, Dominique Pélicot told the court that he also raped his wife, Gisèle Pélicot, and that the 50 men standing trial alongside him understood exactly what they were doing.

“Today I maintain that, along with the other men here, I am a rapist,″ Dominique Pélicot testified. “They knew everything. They can’t say otherwise.”

Pélicot’s testimony marked the most important moment yet in a trial that has shocked the world. Although he previously confessed to investigators, his court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of his co-defendants, who range in age from 26 to 74. Many of them deny having raped Gisèle Pélicot, saying her then-husband had manipulated them or that they believed she was consenting.

Many following the case also hope his testimony might help explain why Dominique Pélicot would subject the mother of his three children to such unconscionable abuse.

Gisèle Pélicot has become a hero to many rape victims and a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity in the case, letting the trial be public and appearing openly in front of the media. She shows up every day, passing through the courthouse security line behind men accused of raping her. As she left court during a break Tuesday, supporters brought her flowers.

After days of delay due to what his lawyers said was a kidney stone and urinary tract infection, Dominique Pélicot, seated in a wheelchair, testified that the charges against him are true. With his ex-wife looking on from the packed gallery and his voice trembling and barely audible at times, he started a long day of testimony trying to explain childhood traumas that he said scarred and molded him into the person he became.

“One is not born a pervert, one becomes a pervert,” Pélicot told the judges after recounting, sometimes in tears, being raped by a male hospital nurse at age 9 and being forced to take part in a gang rape at age 14.

Pélicot also said that for years, his father sexually abused a young girl his family had taken in, and that his brother later said their father had invited other men to do the same.

He regretted that his parents didn't let him continue his studies after he turned 14. He said that around that time, he tried to persuade his mother to leave the house with him, but “she never wanted to.”

“I don’t really want to talk about this, I am just ashamed of my father. In the end, I didn’t do any better,'' said Pélicot, who faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

After he spoke about his difficult upbringing, Gisèle Pélicot was given the opportunity to address the court.

“It is hard for me to hear this. For 50 years, I lived with a man. I couldn’t imagine even one second that he could have committed acts of rape,″ she said. “I trusted this man entirely.″

The two looked at each other, him from behind the dock’s glass window and her from the witness stand.

“I am guilty,” he told her. “I regret everything I did. I ask you for forgiveness, even if it is unpardonable.”

Asked if she wanted to respond, Gisèle Pélicot turned and left the stand.

When asked about his feelings toward his ex-wife, Dominique Pélicot said she didn't deserve what he did.

“From my youth, I remember only shocks and traumas, forgotten partly thanks to her,” he said in tears.

At that moment, Gisèle Pélicot put on her sunglasses.

Later, Dominique Pélicot said, “I was crazy about her. She replaced everything. I ruined everything.”

A supermarket security guard caught Pélicot in 2020 secretly shooting video up women’s skirts, according to court documents. During a search of his house and electronic devices, police found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Gisèle Pélicot while she appeared to be unconscious in bed.

With the recordings, police were able to track down most of the 72 suspects they were seeking, but not all.

In addition to the photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot, investigators found photos of the Pelicots' daughter, Caroline Darian, and two daughters-in-law that were surreptitiously taken while they were in their underwear, getting undressed or taking showers, according to authorities.

While her mother has stayed remarkably calm throughout the trial, Darian walked out of the courtroom Tuesday as her father was being asked about photos of her that were found on his laptop.

″Excuse me, I’m going to vomit,″ she said angrily before rushing out. She has written a book about what happened to her family, called ″And I Stopped Calling you Daddy.″

After retiring, the Pélicots moved from the Paris region to a house in Mazan, a small town in the Provence region.

When police officers called Gisèle Pélicot in for questioning in late 2020, she initially told them her husband was “a great guy,″ according to legal documents. They then showed her some photos. She left and later divorced her husband.

Since Dominique Pélicot’s arrest, other cases have surfaced. He was fined after being caught shooting video of a women’s crotch in 2010 and required to see a psychologist. Gisèle Pélicot has said she never knew about this incident.

Under French law, the proceedings inside the courtroom cannot be filmed or photographed. Dominique Pélicot has been brought into the court through a special entrance that's inaccessible for the media, because he and some other defendants are being held in custody during the trial and can't be filmed. Defendants who are not in custody have been arriving at the courthouse wearing surgical masks or hoods to avoid having their faces filmed or photographed.

Among those hoping to secure a seat to watch the Tuesday's proceedings was Bernadette Tessonière, a 69-year-old retiree who lives a half-hour drive from Avignon, where the trial is taking place.

“How is it possible that in 50 years of communal life, one can live next to someone who hides his life so well? This is scary,” she said.

Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Her ex-husband admitted in court that for nearly a decade, he repeatedly drugged his unwitting wife and invited dozens of men to rape her while she lay unconscious. (AP Photo/Diane Jantet)

Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Her ex-husband admitted in court that for nearly a decade, he repeatedly drugged his unwitting wife and invited dozens of men to rape her while she lay unconscious. (AP Photo/Diane Jantet)

Gisele Pelicot exits the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, after her ex-husband admitted in court that for nearly a decade, he repeatedly drugged his unwitting wife and invited dozens of men to rape her while she lay unconscious. (AP Photo/Diane Jantet)

FILE - Police officers walk in the Avignon court house prior to the trial of Dominique Pelicot, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

FILE - Gisele Pelicot speaks to media as she leaves the Avignon court house, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

FILE - Gisele Pelicot, left, arrives in the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

FILE - Gisele Pelicot, left, arrives in the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)