White Sox 1 - 7 Giants
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'Posey Rule' helps Giants beat ChiSox

Aug 14, 2014 - 2:40 AM San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Peavy finally got another win after the longest drought of his career.

It took an assist from one of Major League Baseball's newest and most controversial rules.

MLB's experimental rule aimed at cutting down on home plate collisions helped Peavy and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago White Sox in the same stadium where one of those collisions three years ago sparked debate over the need for such guidelines.

The Giants scored seven runs after an out call at home plate was overturned in the seventh inning and beat the White Sox, 7-1, on Wednesday in the finale of a two-game series.

The White Sox had a 1-0 lead in the seventh before Joe Panik hit a broken-bat grounder to first baseman Jose Abreu, who threw home to get Gregor Blanco for what appeared to be the inning's second out.

Blanco slid to the back side of the plate to avoid catcher Tyler Flowers, who tagged him. But Flowers was straddling the plate before the ball arrived -- a no-no under the new rule -- and the call was overturned by the MLB replay operations center in New York, tying the game.

"Definitely he was blocking the plate," Blanco said.

Chicago manager Robin Ventura was irate and earned an immediate ejection for coming out of the dugout to argue. Ventura's protest turned old-school when he kicked dirt over the plate.

"We made the play and the guy was out," said Ventura. "They don't take into consideration the guy was out by a long shot, so I obviously don't agree with it."

It sparked a seven-run rally for the Giants, who bounced back from a loss in the series opener to avoid what would have been their third six-game slide of the season.

Peavy (1-3) gave up four hits in seven innings, including a long solo homer to Adam Dunn. He struck out three and walked three in his first win in 19 starts since he beat Toronto on April 25. He had been winless in three starts with the Giants since they acquired him from the Red Sox last month.

Jose Quintana (6-9) was lifted with two outs in the seventh and took the loss, his second in a row. He was charged with four runs on four hits and two walks and struck out seven.

Debate over the possible need for a home plate collision rule spiked in 2011 after Giants catcher Buster Posey, then the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, suffered a fractured fibula and torn ligaments in his left ankle at AT&T Park, ending his season.

In Tuesday's series opener against the White Sox, Posey was deemed to have been standing out of the way in accordance with the new rule when he tagged Jordan Danks out in the 10th inning. The White Sox, after MLB confirmed the call, won the game anyway a batter later.

Baseball's collision rule, No. 7.13 in the books, is sometimes called the "Posey Rule" because of the 2011 play.

"I know this rule has created a lot of controversy and they're talking about maybe tweaking it in the offseason, but it's the rule," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday. "You can't block the plate."

"It is what it is and we'll take it," Bochy said. "It's a good win. We needed it."

Two key double plays allowed Peavy to face just one batter over the minimum in the first three innings, but Dunn homered for the second time in the series in the fourth inning, driving a fastball into San Francisco Bay to give the White Sox the lead.

Quintana mostly coasted into the seventh inning, pitching out of a jam in the second with two runners on and working around Posey's leadoff triple in the fourth. Peavy escaped out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth on Alexei Ramirez's inning-ending pop up.

In the seventh, Angel Pagan added a two-run single and Hunter Pence and Posey also had RBI hits. The last two Giants runs scored when Dunn, playing right field, chased Pablo Sandoval's fly ball into right-center and missed it.

Game Notes

Peavy's teams were 2-16 during his winless streak ... The Giants start a three-game series against the Phillies on Friday at home ... The White Sox return to Chicago after a 2-4 road trip to play Toronto this weekend.






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