Sox Drop Their 5th Straight To Tampa
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- David Price finally found success against the Chicago White Sox.
Price allowed four hits in eight dominant innings and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the slumping White Sox 5-0 on Monday night.
"Price was outstanding," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "They played defense behind him very well. When you're pitching that way and you make plays behind him, it's hard to beat them."
Price (2-2) struck out nine and walked two. The left-hander entered 0-4 with a 4.88 ERA in four starts against the White Sox.
"It was a big game for me. ... The White Sox have had my number ever since I've been in the big leagues," Price said. "A very tough team to pitch against, and they've got a lot of right-handed hitters that put the bat on the ball. It's tough and it's fun."
Felipe Lopez homered and drove in three runs, helping Tampa Bay win for sixth time in seven games. Ben Zobrist had a two-run homer.
Edwin Jackson (2-1) gave up four runs and 11 hits in seven innings for the White Sox, who have lost five in a row. Jackson, while with Arizona, walked eight during a 149-pitch no-hitter against Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field last June 25.
Joel Peralta pitched the ninth to complete the four-hitter.
"We know we're going to hit," Guillen said. "I don't worry about that."
Any chance of a repeat performance by Jackson ended when leadoff hitter Sam Fuld singled to start the Rays' three-run first.
After Lopez drove in Fuld with a single, Zobrist made it 3-0 on his two-run shot. Zobrist had just one hit in 13 at-bats over his previous five games.
Fuld had four hits and made a diving catch in center field during the third to take away a hit from Brent Morel. Rays shortstop Reid Brignac threw out Ramon Castro at first after making a diving stop on a second-inning grounder.
"Couldn't have done it without all the defensive plays," Price said.
Jackson worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the second by striking out Elliot Johnson. The right-hander, who pitched for the Rays from 2006-08, had won all three previous starts against his former team, including a 5-1 victory over Price on April 7 in Chicago.
"Jackson threw the ball pretty good," Guillen said. "We just didn't score any runs."
Tampa Bay went up 4-0 on Lopez's fifth-inning double. Lopez also had a solo homer off Matt Thornton in the eighth.
Designated hitter Johnny Damon (bruised left ring finger), center fielder B.J. Upton (rest) and first baseman Dan Johnson (sore left wrist) were all out of the Rays' starting lineup.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
