Chris Sale Picks Up 17th Win As White Sox Crush Rays, 13-6
CHICAGO (CBS) — Melky Cabrera and Leury Garcia homered to back Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox routed the sloppy Tampa Bay Rays, 13-6, on Tuesday night.
Sale (17-9) allowed three runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings, retiring the last seven batters to match his career high in victories in Chicago's fourth straight win.
Cabrera belted a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and Garcia added a three-run shot in the third. Garcia also tripled when Mikie Mahtook misplayed his liner to center in a two-run second.
Rays starter Alex Cobb (1-2) lasted three innings, allowing eight runs and eight hits in the Rays' fifth straight loss.
Tim Anderson added three hits, including a solo homer in the eighth off Chase Whitley, the 204th allowed by Tampa Bay this season.
Ex-White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez had a two-run single in the second and Curt Casali led off the fourth with a homer for the Rays, who have scored 11 runs in five games.
Sale, who was once 14-2 and the AL starter in the All-Star Game, won for just third time since July 2 despite giving up four straight hits in the second.
The lefty had received three runs or fewer in eight of his last 12 starts, but run support was no issue this time.
Adam Eaton returned from an injury with two hits and scored two runs, Anderson also had an RBI double and the White Sox added two runs on first baseman Brad Miller's wild throw home in the fifth.
The White Sox had 14 hits, eight for extra bases, as they again avoided clinching their fourth straight losing season.
Cobb's ERA swelled to 8.59 in his fifth start since returning from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has given up 15 runs over 4 1/3 innings in his last two starts.
Garcia scored two runs and his drive to left-center in the third was his first homer of the season and second of his career. The 25-year-old spent most of the season at Triple-A Charlotte.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier (wrist) missed his second straight game since getting hit by a pitch. Kiermaier said there was still pain when swinging. "Hopefully, another day will help," he said. . Nick Franklin (hamstring) remained sidelined.
White Sox: Eaton (hip) started for the first time since crashing into the wall while making a catch Friday in Cleveland. "I'm not going to give up a double for not feeling great," Eaton said of his hard-charging style. "If it's the wall we have here, I play the next day. It just happened that the wall was really hard."
SALE'S NUMBERS
Sale also won 17 games in 2012. The five-time All-Star has thrown a career-high 221 2/3 innings this season.
QUERECUTO'S FIRST
Tampa Bay 2B Juniel Querecuto's two-run triple in the ninth off Matt Albers was his first major league hit.
UP NEXT
Rays rookie LHP Blake Snell (6-8, 3.65 ERA) makes his last start of the season Wednesday night against White Sox RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-7, 3.83).
(© 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)