Indians Beat White Sox 4-2 After Chicago's Humber Hit By Line Drive
CHICAGO (AP) -- Justin Masterson pitched six effective innings, Kosuke Fukudome had a tiebreaking RBI triple and the Cleveland Indians inched closer to the top of the AL Central with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, White Sox right-hander Phil Humber was hit in the face by a line drive in the second inning, forcing him from his start.
Matt LaPorta hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which pulled within 1 1-2 games of idle Detroit for the division lead. The Tribe opens a three-game series at Detroit on Friday.
Paul Konerko homered for the White Sox. Konerko, Adam Dunn and Omar Vizquel each had two hits, and Tyler Flowers singled in a run.
Masterson (10-7) allowed two runs and seven hits. Chris Perez got the last three outs for his 27th save in 30 chances.
Humber was struck by Kosuke Fukudome's comebacker with one out in the second inning of a scoreless game. He fell to the ground as the ball bounded back to catcher Tyler Flowers.
He stood up immediately after the play ended and appeared to be alert as the club's medical staff checked on him, but was removed after a short delay. Humber appeared to be pointing to the area around his right eye.
Humber entered with an 8-8 record and a 3.67 ERA. He was replaced by rookie Zach Stewart, who has been used primarily as a starter this season.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
