Ramirez Singles Twice In Return To Fenway Park
[photogallerylink id=42203 align=right]Manny Ramirez singled twice in his return to Fenway Park and John Danks pitched seven solid innings, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday.
Paul Konerko went 3 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 14 games as the White Sox won their fourth straight and moved 3 1/2 games behind the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins, who were home against the Texas Rangers.
The White Sox had claimed Ramirez on waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping he could help them overtake the Twins. In his first game with Chicago, he went 1 for 3 in Wednesday night's 6-4 win at Cleveland, Ramirez's first major league team.
Ramirez's power and quirky personality were fixtures at Fenway for 7 1/2 seasons before he was sent to the Dodgers at the 2008 trade deadline in a deal that brought Jason Bay to Boston. Saturday's return actually was his second of the season.
He came back with the Dodgers for a three-game series in June and went 5 for 12 with one homer and one RBI.
On Saturday, his singles moved up Konerko, who eventually scored both times. Ramirez grounded out in his other two at-bats.
The game was rescheduled after Friday night's series opener was postponed because of the threat of severe weather from Hurricane Earl. Chicago's Gavin Floyd (9-11) was scheduled to face John Lackey (12-8) in the second game
Danks (13-9) allowed one run on six hits in seven innings as he improved to 2-2 in his last seven starts after winning his previous four. Sergio Santos worked the eighth and Bobby Jenks got the final three outs for his 26th save in 30 opportunities.
Buchholz (15-6) entered the game with a major-league leading 2.21 ERA that rose to 2.25 after he allowed two runs in five innings. He is 5-1 in his last eight starts.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the second when Konerko led off with a single and took third on Ramirez's single to right. A.J. Pierzynski then grounded into a double play, but Konerko scored.
Konerko started the fourth with a ground-rule double and moved up on Ramirez's groundout to second. Then Pierzynski singled to center for a 2-0 lead.
Boston had just three hits in four innings before scoring in the fifth. Bill Hall led off with a single, Darnell McDonald walked and Marco Scutaro followed with an RBI single. But Danks retired the next three batters on fly balls.
Scott Atchison replaced Buchholz and pitched a scoreless sixth before allowing a run in the seventh. Andruw Jones started the inning with a double but was tagged out at third when Alexei Ramirez grounded into a fielder's choice. But the next batter, Gordon Beckham, doubled in the third run.
Notes: Konerko is 28 for 57 during his hitting streak, a .491 batting average. ... Pierzynski extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Chicago has a major-league best 50-27 record since June 9 ... Buchholz has allowed three runs or less in 17 of his last 18 starts.
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