Tampa Bay Rays-Chicago White Sox Regular Season Recaps

Oct 1, 2008 - 3:11 AM Overall Season Series - TAM, 6-4 Series at Tampa Bay - TAM, 4-3 Series at Chicago - TAM, 2-1

DATE SITE WINNER ---- ---- ------ 04/18 TAM CHI, 9-2 04/19 TAM TAM, 5-0 04/20 TAM CHI, 6-0 05/29 TAM CHI, 5-1 05/30 TAM TAM, 2-1 05/31 TAM TAM, 2-0 06/01 TAM TAM, 4-3 08/22 CHI TAM, 9-4 08/23 CHI TAM, 5-3 08/24 CHI CHI, 6-5

CHI WHITE SOX 9, TAMPA BAY 2 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Ozzie Guillen has witnessed quite a few home runs in his major league career as a player and a manager. He's not sure he's seen any longer than Jim Thome's shot Friday night.

Thome's towering three-run homer off a Tropicana Field catwalk and Javier Vazquez's pitching lifted the Chicago White Sox to a 9-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the third inning, Thome crushed a 3-2 pitch off rookie Jeff Niemann that hit the "C ring" catwalk in right field. It was the 511th of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Mel Ott for 21st place on the all-time list.

Thome has reached base in all 26 games he's played at Tropicana Field.

Konerko homered on the next pitch after Thome's blast, making it 4-0. It was more than enough for Vazquez, who won his third consecutive start.

Vazquez (3-1) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second and coasted until the sixth inning, when the Rays scored their only two runs. By then, the White Sox had built a 9-0 cushion for Vazquez, who has won six of his last seven dating to last season.

Vazquez scattered six hits in 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, one walk and striking out four. Vazquez's leadoff walk to Nathan Haynes in the seventh ended a streak of 75 consecutive batters without a walk.

Thome and Konerko's home runs gave the White Sox a 4-0 lead. In the fourth, the White Sox added four more on Pablo Ozuna's sacrifice fly, Juan Uribe's RBI double and Orlando Cabrera's RBI single. Konerko drove in the final run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The White Sox won for the 10th time in their last 14 games and rebounded from Thursday's 6-5, 10-inning loss in Baltimore where they blew a 5-2 eighth-inning lead.

Niemann (1-1), who won his major league debut by allowing one run in six innings against Baltimore on Wednesday, only lasted 3 1/3 innings against the White Sox.

Niemann allowed five hits, eight runs (five earned), walked four and struck out one.

Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria, who agreed to a $17.5 million, six-year contract Friday, went 1-for-3 with an RBI. But his throwing error led to two unearned runs in the fourth.

Thome (three RBI), Konerko (two RBI) and Uribe (2-for-5, two RBI) knocked in seven of the White Sox's nine runs.

With the win, the White Sox remained atop the American League Central, while the Rays stayed in the AL East cellar.

TAMPA BAY 5, CHI WHITE SOX 0 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- For the Tampa Bay Rays, success against Mark Buehrle has been hard to come by. Perhaps all they needed the whole time was a career-best performance from Andy Sonnanstine.

Sonnanstine tossed his first career complete game, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

In 12 career appearances entering this game, Buehrle (1-2) was 6-1 against Tampa Bay, with all but one of those victories coming at Tropicana Field. However, he was no match on Saturday for 24-year-old Sonnanstine, who tossed a three-hitter for his first career shutout.

Chicago had just one baserunner reach second.

Sonnanstine (2-1) forced the White Sox - who lead the American League in home runs - into 15 groundouts while facing just two more than the minimum in a 107-pitch outing that took just 2:02 to complete - a Tropicana Field record.

The effort was particularly gratifying after surrendering at least four runs in each of his first three outings this season, including Monday's start vs. the New York Yankees in which he allowed seven runs over just 3 1/3 innings.

A botched second-inning rundown cost the White Sox three runs.

Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch from Buehrle with two outs in the second. He was caught leaning toward second on Buehrle's pick-off throw to first, but Chicago failed to get him out and Gomes took second.

Gomes scored when the next batter, Eric Hinske, hit an RBI single.

Shawn Riggans, Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura each followed with singles of their own, with the last two each plating a run for Tampa Bay.

The Rays tacked on insurance runs in the fourth with a sacrifice fly by Riggans and the seventh on an RBI double by B.J. Upton.

Upton finished with three hits for the Rays, who stopped their six-game losing streak to the White Sox.

CHI WHITE SOX 6, TAMPA BAY 0 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- John Danks threw seven impressive innings and Jim Thome homered as the Chicago White Sox posted a 6-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

Jermaine Dye had an RBI triple for Chicago, which broke open the game with a four-run fifth.

Danks (2-1) followed up his the best start of his career by allowing just three hits, and finished with eight strikeouts. The lefthander, who held Oakland to five hits in 7 2/3 innings Tuesday, did not walk a batter.

Boone Logan finished off the four-hitter with two scoreless innings.

Danks got plenty of support from Thome, who snapped out of a 3-for-17 slump in a big way against Edwin Jackson (2-2), who has posted two straight sub-par performances since opening the season with two wins.

Thome homered in the first and recorded an RBI single in the third and fifth inning for Chicago, which was held to just three hits by Andy Sonnanstine in a 5-0 loss on Saturday.

Thome wasted little time giving the White Sox the early lead as he drilled a 2-2 offering from Jackson over the right field wall for his fifth home run of the season.

Thome continued his big day by drilling a single back through the box that nearly hit Jackson, which plated Nick Swisher for a 3-0 lead in the fifth.

Dye followed with a two-run triple to left-center field to stretch the lead to 5-0. Dye's triple chased Jackson, who allowed six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and three walks.

A.J. Pierzynski slapped a single off Gary Glover through a drawn-in infield for a 6-0 lead, giving Danks more than enough support.

CHI WHITE SOX 5, TAMPA BAY 1 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The red-hot Tampa Bay Rays finally discovered what it's like to run into an another hot club.

The Chicago White Sox got solo homers from Joe Crede and Paul Konerko and a solid pitching effort from John Danks to cool off the Rays with a 5-1 victory on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay (32-22), which still owns the best record in the American League, was limited to one run at home, where they dropped to 16-3 in their last 19 contests.

The White Sox, meanwhile, won for the 12th time in their past 15 games to maintain a two-game lead in the AL Central.

Crede homered in the sixth and Konerko in the eighth as Chicago (30-23) took the first-ever matchup of first-place teams at Tropicana Field over the AL East-leading Rays.

Danks (4-4) won for the first time in four starts, allowing just one run and six hits in six innings while tying a career high with eight strikeouts to go along with just one walk. He also hurled seven scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay on April 20.

Akinori Iwamura recorded two hits for Tampa Bay, which had not been held to one run at home since a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees on May 14.

In the top of the third, Carlos Quentin's RBI single and Jim Thome's RBI double spotted the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Tampa Bay answered with its only run in the bottom of the frame on Carl Crawford's run-scoring single.

Crede led off the sixth with his ninth blast and Cabrera added an RBI double to make it 4-1.

Konerko homered on the first pitch of the eighth inning off reliever Jason Hammel to provide the final margin.

Edwin Jackson (3-4), who won his last start to end a seven-game winless streak, allowed four runs and a season-high 10 hits. He walked two and struck out four.

Cabrera, Quentin and Thome each had two of the White Sox's 11 hits.

TAMPA BAY 2, CHI WHITE SOX 1 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- James Shields once again pitched well enough to win. And once again, he didn't get the victory - even if the Tampa Bay Rays did.

Cliff Floyd's walk-off home run in the ninth continued the magical season for the Rays, who posted a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Floyd homered on a 0-1 pitch off reliever Scott Linebrink (2-1), giving the Rays the victory in a matchup between the leaders in the American League East and Central Divisions.

Linebrink came on to start the ninth and promptly gave up the blast to Floyd, whose towering shot to right-center field just cleared the glove of leaping center fielder Dewayne Wise, who had just replaced Nick Swisher for defensive purposes.

The Rays (33-22), who own the best record in the American League, won for the 16th time in their last 22 contests. The loss was only the White Sox's fourth in their last 16 games.

Dan Wheeler (1-3), the last of three Rays relievers, pitched the ninth for the win. Both starters - Shields and Jose Contreras - allowed only one run and deserved to win but were not involved in the decision.

Shields, who remained winless in his last four starts, scattered seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one.

Contreras allowed just five hits in seven innings, yielding three walks and five strikeouts en route to his second straight no-decision since winning three consecutive starts.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the third on B.J. Upton's RBI single. The White Sox pulled even in the fifth on Alexei Ramirez's solo home run.

Early on, the White Sox squandered scoring chances. Swisher grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the second and, one inning later, Carlos Quentin did the same with two runners on.

Akinori Iwamura had two hits, giving him an AL-best 41 in May for the Rays, who also grounded into two double plays in the first five innings.

Cabrera collected his 1,500th career hit with a third-inning single, and A.J. Pierzynski had his 1,000th career hit in the fifth when a routine fly ball fell in shallow center field between three Rays. However, Pierzynski was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

TAMPA BAY 2, CHI WHITE SOX 0 ----------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- It didn't take long for the Tampa Bay Rays to find out what life would be like without closer Troy Percival.

Scott Kazmir pitched seven shutout innings and Cliff Floyd homered for the second consecutive night as the Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox, 2-0, on Saturday.

Kazmir allowed only three hits in winning his fifth consecutive start, but without Percival - who went on the 15-day disabled list Thursday - the Rays needed five relievers to get through the final two innings.

The victory kept the Rays (34-22) in first place in the American League East for a franchise-record seventh consecutive day. The Rays also own the AL's best record.

After an eight-game winning streak was snapped May 23, the White Sox are 4-5 in their last nine but remain atop the AL Central.

After Kazmir left and with closer Troy Percival on the disabled list, the Rays needed five relievers to get through the final two innings.

After Kazmir left, Al Reyes and J.P. Howell pitched the eighth. Dan Wheeler recorded one out in the ninth before walking Paul Konerko and allowing a single to Joe Crede.

Trever Miller relieved Wheeler and got pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski on a fly out to right. Grant Balfour, called up Friday from Class AAA Durham, retired Brian Anderson for his first save.

The White Sox stranded two runners each in the eighth and ninth innings.

Kazmir (5-1) struck out six and walked three as the Rays won for the 17th time in their last 23 games. In Kazmir's last five starts, spanning 33 innings, he has allowed only two earned runs.

Floyd, who had a walk-off home run in the ninth in Friday's 2-1 win, hit a solo home run in the fourth, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

B.J. Upton's third-inning groundout in the third accounted for the Rays' first run.

Javier Vazquez (5-4) lost for the first time in five starts. He allowed five hits in seven innings, striking out a season-high 10 and walking two.

The White Sox runners had just two runners reach scoring position in seven innings against Kazmir - Alexei Ramirez on a one-out double in the first and Crede on a walk and wild pitch in the second.

With one out in the eighth, Orlando Cabrera was walked by Reyes. He stole second and third, but was stranded after Howell struck out Jim Thome and Carlos Quentin.

TAMPA BAY 4, CHI WHITE SOX 3 (10 INNINGS) -----------------------------------------

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Another day. Yet another walk-off win by the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays thanks to another unlikely hero.

Gabe Gross lined a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning off Matt Thornton on Sunday, lifting the Rays past the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, at Tropicana Field.

It was the sixth walk-off victory for the Rays (35-22), who stayed atop the American League East for a franchise-record eighth consecutive day.

The Rays won their seventh consecutive home series and improved to 20-3 in their last 23 home games. They also have won 10 of their last 12 series overall.

Gross got a rare start in right field and entered the game 1-for-9 with seven strikeouts against left-handers. However, his fifth-inning, two-run triple against White Sox southpaw starter Mark Buehrle pulled the Rays even at 3-3.

In the 10th, Gross pulled an 0-2 pitch from the lefthanded Thornton (1-1) over the wall in right. It was his third home run of the season and the first of his career against a lefty.

In the top of the 10th, Jim Thome led off with a double against J.P. Howell (4-0) and pinch runner Pablo Ozuna went to third on Paul Konerko's groundout. But Howell kept the runner stranded at third by retiring Joe Crede and Nick Swisher.

Alexei Ramirez's two-run double in the second gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead, but the Rays cut the deficit in half in the fourth on Carlos Pena's RBI single.

In the fifth, the White Sox led off the inning with three consecutive hits - Brian Anderson's double and singles by Orlando Cabrera and A.J. Pierzynski - but managed only one run. Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine survived the inning by retiring Jermaine Dye, Thome and Konerko to keep the deficit at 3-1.

Tampa Bay then pulled even in the bottom half of the fifth as Gross' triple scored Jonny Gomes and Shawn Riggans, who led off the inning with a single and double, respectively.

Sonnanstine, who had lost his last two decisions, allowed 10 hits but only three runs in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three with no walks.

Buehrle was 6-2 in his career against the Rays, but did not figure in on the decision. He allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings with five strikeouts and two walks.

It was the third consecutive loss for Chicago, which left 10 men on base and fell to 1-8 in its last nine games on artificial turf.

Despite losing three of four at Tampa Bay, the White Sox remained atop the AL Central.

Chicago (30-26) still holds a one-game lead over Minnesota (29-27) but its manager was not happy with the way they finished the road trip.

TAMPA BAY 9, CHI WHITE SOX 4 ----------------------------

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Tampa Bay Rays righthander Edwin Jackson looked like a man walking through a minefield for much of Friday.

Despite issuing five walks and seven hits in six innings, Jackson help the Rays emerge with a 9-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

The Rays had their own mashers, getting home runs from Carlos Pena, Rocco Baldelli and Ben Zobrist.

Jackson (10-8) also received help from his bullpen in the form of two key strikeouts by Grant Balfour.

Yet it was Jackson's ability to dodge disaster after Chicago took a 2-0 lead on Nick Swisher's fourth home run in four games that impressed manager Joe Maddon most.

Chicago put the leadoff batter on in each of the first five innings. A pair of double plays and a fourth inning that saw two White Sox runners caught stealing helped Jackson get through six innings in a 2-2 game.

Jackson thinks good fortune had a role.

Pena's leadoff home run to right center in the sixth, his 26th, had tied the score at 2-2. The Rays went ahead for good in the seventh against Chicago starter John Danks (10-6) when Dioner Navarro hit a leadoff double and came home on a one-out double by Jason Bartlett.

The bullpen helped out Jackson in the seventh. Protecting a 3-2 lead, Balfour came on to strike out American League home run leader Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye.

White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel was then victimized for Baldelli's first home run since May 3, 2007, to lead off the eighth. Willy Aybar followed with a double and Zobrist drilled a two-run homer to right-center for a 6-2 Tampa Bay lead.

Baldelli had been on the disabled list for most of the season with a medical condition that slows muscle recovery and causes fatigue.

Chicago's fans weren't smiling about Dotel, who has a knack for strikeouts or giving up the long ball. They pelted him with boos when manager Ozzie Guillen pulled him.

Tampa Bay kept the pressure on Chicago 's bullpen in the ninth with three runs off Horacio Ramirez, including an RBI double by Pena and an RBI single by Zobrist.

TAMPA BAY 5, CHI WHITE SOX 3 ----------------------------

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- First baseman Carlos Pena said the Tampa Bay Rays have adopted the saying, "keep coming, keep coming" during their incredible turnaround season.

The Rays did exactly that again Saturday, as Pena's two-run single capped a four-run, eighth-inning rally to give Tampa a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Chicago starter Javier Vazquez retired the first 17 batters, but after his flirtation with a perfect game and shutout ended in the sixth on Jason Bartlett's double to left and Akinori Iwamura's RBI single, the Rays chased him and batted around in the eighth.

Vazquez (10-11) left after giving up a single to Dioner Navarro, walk to Gabe Gross and base hit to Bartlett. Iwamura followed with a 12-pitch at-bat, slapping away six pitches for fouls after working the count to 3-2, before working a walk off lefthander Matt Thornton to force in a run.

Shortstop Orlando Cabrera failed to come up with B.J. Upton's hard grounder for an infield hit after Iwamura's at-bat, and Gross scored to tie the game at 3-3. Pena then lined a two-run single to right field off Thornton to put Tampa Bay ahead 5-3.

It was the 37th comeback win for Tampa -19 more than they've allowed opponents - and came despite Vazquez's performance and a two-home run effort by Chicago's Jermaine Dye.

The rally made a winner of reliever Grant Balfour (4-2), who threw one scoreless inning after replacing Scott Kazmir in the seventh.

Relievers Chad Bradford, Balfour and Dan Wheeler combined to hold the White Sox hitless over the last three innings, with Wheeler picking up his eighth save. The Rays have taken the first two games of the series.

Kazmir allowed solo home runs to Dye in the fourth and sixth and a sacrifice fly to Juan Uribe after Alexei Ramirez had tripled in the fifth, leaving down 3-1 after a six-inning stint that included seven strikeouts and two walks.

The All-Star lefthander allowed all four of Chicago's hits, marking the fourth time in his last five starts he has given up four hits or less.

Vazquez was charged with four runs and five hits while striking out four and walking one.

The win was Maddon's 206th, pushing him past Larry Rothschild as the franchise's all-time winningest manager.

CHI WHITE SOX 6, TAMPA BAY 5 (10 INNINGS) -----------------------------------------

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago White Sox stole a game from the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, benefiting from a blown call by an old friend - umpire Doug Eddings.

Alexei Ramirez drove a bases-loaded single into right field in the 10th inning to lift the White Sox to a 6-5 victory over the Rays.

Eddings, whose controversial call helped give Chicago a victory over Anaheim in the 2005 American League Championship Series, did it again almost three years later.

Pierzynski was tagged out in a rundown in the 10th but was awarded third base after Eddings said Tampa Bay third baseman Willy Aybar interfered with him. After a lengthy argument by Rays manager Joe Maddon and a conference between the umpires, the call was upheld.

Maddon, who was a coach for the Angels in the 2005 ALCS, had no trouble remembering the controversy involving Pierzynski and Eddings that occurred.

When told by reporters that video replay appeared to show Pierzynski throwing a forearm in the direction of Aybar, Maddon did not disagree.

Two batters later, Ramirez drove in Pierzynski with a line-drive single off righthander Jason Hammel (4-4).

Despite the loss, Tampa Bay (79-50) remained in first place in the AL East, 4 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox (75-55).

Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 36th home run and Jim Thome added his 534th career blast - tying him for 15th with Jimmy Foxx on the all-time list - as Chicago salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

With the win, Chicago (74-55) regained first place in the AL Central by one-half game over the Minnesota Twins (74-56), who lost to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Tampa Bay jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, when Carlos Pena reached on a two-out error by first baseman Nick Swisher. Rocco Baldelli then pounded his second home run of the season high into the left field bleachers.

Akinori Iwamura's RBI single scored Ben Zobrist for a 3-0 bulge.

Chicago responded in the fourth inning with four straight hits, including a two-run homer by Quentin that cut the deficit to one. After Jermaine Dye doubled off the center field wall, Thome homered to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.

Tampa Bay pulled even at 4-4 in the sixth, when Pena scored on an error by shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

Pena then drove in a run with two-out double in the seventh inning off Mark Buehrle, who was denied his fourth straight win.

The White Sox tied it at 5-5 with two outs in the ninth.

With a full count, pinch hitter Paul Konerko singled to left field off closer Dan Wheeler. The throw to the plate by Zobrist beat pinch runner Brian Anderson by several steps but bounced away from catcher Shawn Riggans.