Chris Sale Back In Top Form As White Sox Beat Angels, 8-2
CHICAGO (AP) -- Chris Sale was back in All-Star form, and Avisail Garcia homered twice to drive in four runs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-2, on Monday night.
Tyler Flowers added a solo shot to back Sale (10-7), who rebounded with a gem after allowing 14 earned runs and 18 hits in 10 1-3 innings while losing his previous two outings. The lanky left-hander didn't allow a run -- or more than one baserunner in an inning -- until Johnny Giavotella drove in two with a double in the seventh.
Sale returned for the eighth but was replaced by Nate Jones with one out after hitting Kole Calhoun with a pitch. Sale was charged with two runs and five hits. He struck out seven.
Angels starter Matt Shoemaker (5-8) had thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings before Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly to the warning track drove in Adam Eaton to put Chicago ahead 1-0 in the first.
Shoemaker hadn't allowed a run in his last three starts, but was tagged for seven on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings in this one as Los Angeles dropped its seventh straight on the road.
Garcia had his third career multihomer game to reach 11 for the season, and his three-run drive was the big blow as the White Sox sent nine hitters to the plate and pulled away with a four-run sixth. The right fielder has four home runs in his last six games after connecting for just two in his previous 48.
Sale set the tone as he allowed no more than a single baserunner in any of the first six innings -- including a 13-pitch walk to Mike Trout in the fourth.
Sale retired the Angels 1-2-3 twice, and Chris Iannetta grounded into a double play in the fifth after Giavotella's leadoff single.
The Angels failed to score while Shoemaker was on the mound for the third straight game. He won the first during his 19-inning scoreless run, but got no-decisions in the next two outings as the Angels lost 3-0 at Houston and 2-0 at home to Cleveland.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: 3B David Freese (broken right index finger) could begin a minor league rehab assignment as early as this weekend. Freese took batting practice Monday but is still 65-70 percent with his throwing, manager Mike Scioscia said. Freese was hurt when Minnesota's Mike Pelfrey hit him with a pitch on July 22. ... OF Collin Cowgill (strained right wrist) could also begin a rehab stint Tuesday or Wednesday and will spend time both in the outfield and as the DH.
White Sox: Flowers, who left Sunday's game in humid Kansas City after seven innings with cramps due to dehydration, returned to the starting lineup. "He just couldn't go any more at that point and (trainer Herm Schneider) got him fixed up and he feels good," manager Robin Ventura said before the game.
UP NEXT
Angels lefty Hector Santiago (7-5, 2.78 ERA) faces White Sox rookie left-hander Carlos Rodon (4-4, 5.00) on Tuesday night in the middle game of the series. Both starters have been scuffling.
Santiago, a late addition to the AL All-Star team last month, has allowed 12 runs and 19 hits over 16 innings in his last three starts. Rodon has given up 12 runs and walked six in in his last two outings, lasting just three innings against the Yankees on July 31 and 4 2-3 against Tampa Bay last Wednesday.
(© 2015 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.)
