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Seventh inning rally lifts White Sox over Cubs

Jul 1, 2011 - 11:09 PM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Juan Pierre hit a two-run triple to finish off a four-run seventh inning Friday that lifted the White Sox over the Cubs, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game series between the Chicago teams.

Alexei Ramirez belted a two-run homer during the rally, which lifted the White Sox out of a 4-2 hole and gave starter Edwin Jackson his first win in six starts.

Jackson (5-6) allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, striking out five in six innings for his first victory since May 22.

Brian Bruney, Jesse Crain and Sergio Santos pitched one scoreless inning apiece, with Santos striking out two in a perfect ninth for his 18th save.

"That was a great effort," Jackson said of the White Sox bullpen. "They came in and shut things down like everybody knows they're capable of doing."

Aramis Ramirez hit a solo home run, the 300th homer of his career, and knocked in two runs for the Cubs.

The White Sox won two of three games against the Cubs at home last week and are 44-38 all-time in the series.

"They had a couple more big hits than we did," said Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney, who hit an RBI double. "That's the way it goes. We gotta come back tomorrow ready to go and try to put ourselves in position to win the series."

Cubs starter Randy Wells (1-3) was knocked out of the game in the seventh and fell to 0-3 in seven starts since coming off the disabled list May 28.

A.J. Pierzynski singled to spark the decisive rally and Alexei Ramirez knocked a hanging slider into the left field bleachers to tie the game at 4-4.

After Alex Rios singled for three straight White Sox hits, Wells got Gordon Beckham on a ground out. But he walked pinch-hitter Adam Dunn (who batted for Jackson) and Pierre smacked a triple into the right field corner to make it 6-4.

Jeff Samardzija got the Cubs out of the inning, retiring two straight, but they had only two baserunners the rest of the way.

A bright spot in the loss was Kerry Wood, who came off the disabled list before the game and pitched a perfect eighth inning, throwing seven of his nine pitches for strikes and reaching the mid-90s with his fastball.

Wood had been sidelined since June 13 with a blister on his right index finger. His activation came alongside starter Carlos Zambrano being placed on the 15-day DL with lower back soreness one day after leaving his start against the Giants.

After the White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Paul Konerko's sacrifice fly and Pierzynski's RBI single, the Cubs rallied to take the lead.

Geovany Soto had an RBI ground out in the second, and the Cubs went ahead 3-2 on Barney's RBI double and Aramis Ramirez's sac fly in the third. Ramirez's 11th homer of the season, a one-out blast to left in the sixth, made it 4-2.

Ramirez said it felt good to reach the 300-homer plateau.

"That's something that I worked for. Nobody gave it to me," he said. "But it would have felt a lot better if we won the game."

Game Notes

It was also the first time the White Sox won in Jackson's last six starts...Wells made just one start before going on the DL with a right forearm strain...Alexei Ramirez hit his eighth homer of the season.