White Sox 4 - 3 Blue Jays
Final
  for this game

Viciedo HR lifts White Sox past Blue Jays

Jun 28, 2014 - 11:07 PM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Dayan Viciedo slugged a game-changing three- run homer in the seventh inning that provided the big blow in the Chicago White Sox' 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The White Sox hadn't scored until Viciedo clubbed the first pitch thrown by Toronto reliever Dustin McGowan into the left-field seats to erase a 2-0 deficit. Alexei Ramirez added a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth, while Chris Sale turned in seven effective innings to help Chicago to its second straight win after dropping Thursday's opener of this four-game set.

Sale (7-1) issued a season-high five walks, but gave up just three other hits along with a two-run homer to Darin Mastroianni in the fourth. Zach Putnam was reached for a run in the ninth, but got through the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up his first career save.

Munenori Kawasaki had an RBI single for Toronto, which had a terrific start from Marcus Stroman go to waste. The rookie held Chicago to two hits and a pair of walks when exiting with two on and two out in the seventh inning, with both runners coming in on Viciedo's blast.

"That is a game-changer," said Sale of Viciedo's homer. "Stroman, he was great tonight. He threw better than I did. Obviously, you throw like that you deserve to win."

McGowan (4-3) gave up three hits in all and was charged with two runs in an inning of work.

Stroman had yielded only a single hit -- a second-inning double by Adam Dunn -- and a walk while carrying a 2-0 lead into the top of the seventh. The young righty quickly set down the first two hitters of the frame, but Jose Abreu hammered a double to center to keep Chicago at the plate and Dunn worked a walk to prompt Toronto manager John Gibbons to summon McGowan.

The move backfired, as Viciedo greeted the reliever by belting a hanging slider into the second deck in left field to send the White Sox in front.

"If you could do things over, you leave [Stroman] in," Gibbons admitted. "But my thinking was, he pitched his butt off, it was kind of uncharted territory, I don't want him to lose the game right there. That's the way it goes. But you always look back on things like that. I had a plan and it just didn't work."

Toronto put the tying run aboard during its half of the seventh on Jose Reyes' one-out infield single, but Sale concluded his solid outing by inducing a double-play grounder to Melky Cabrera and Chicago extended its lead with a run in the eighth.

After singles by Adam Eaton and Gordon Beckham off McGowan put two on, Ramirez laced a two-out hit to left against Aaron Loup to give the White Sox what turned to be an important insurance run.

The Blue Jays made a bid in the ninth, with Anthony Gose stroking a leadoff double against Putnam in front of Kawasaki's single that closed the gap to 4-3. Putnam regrouped to retire the next three hitters, however, and seal the win.

While Stroman was nearly perfect through the game's first six innings, Sale's only major mistake of the day came while facing the just-recalled Mastroianni following a two-out walk to Colby Rasmus in the fourth.

The left-hander left a changeup over the heart of the plate that Mastroianni -- 0-for-14 on the season entering the at-bat -- crushed off the center-field facade to break the scoreless deadlock.

Game Notes

Abreu's double in the seventh extended his hitting streak to 13 games ... Chicago improved to 7-1 when Viciedo homers in 2014 ... The win was Chicago's first in 13 Saturday games this season ... Mastroianni's homer was his first in the big leagues since August 13, 2012, which came against Detroit while with Minnesota ... Stroman has now allowed two runs or less while working six or more innings in four of his five starts at home.






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