White Sox Beat Rays For 8th Straight Win
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Alexei Ramirez drove in two runs and the Chicago White Sox extended their winning streak to a season-high eight games with a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
Dayan Viciedo had a run-scoring single and Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to help Chicago take a 3-1 lead in the third. Ramirez made it 4-1 with an RBI double in the fifth.
Luke Scott and Carlos Pena homered for the Rays, who have lost nine of their last 13 games at home.
White Sox starter Jose Quintana was ejected by plate umpire Mark Wegner with two outs in the fourth when he threw a pitch behind Ben Zobrist at knee level. Chicago manager Robin Ventura was also tossed by Wegner for arguing.
Tampa Bay right-hander Alex Cobb (2-1) hit a pair of White Sox batters — Gordon Beckham during the first and A.J. Pierzynski in the third — during the game. Pierzynski was hit with a man on second and one out.
Addison Reed worked out of trouble in the ninth for his sixth save. Pena drew a leadoff walk, with pinch runner Rich Thompson advancing to second on Matt Joyce's one-out single. Zobrist and Scott then both popped out to shallow left.
Pena hit a two-run homer off Nate Jones (3-0) in the sixth.
Alex Rios hit a first-inning RBI single. Tampa Bay tied it at 1 on Scott's opposite-field homer to left in the second.
Cobb worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second. After Alejandro De Aza hit a grounder and Beckham struck out, Adam Dunn hit a fly to center that B.J. Upton caught on the warning track.
Quintana allowed one run and one hit in 3 2-3 innings. Cobb gave up four runs and nine hits over five innings.
De Aza left in the sixth when he was hit near the right knee by the ball while diving back to second on J.P. Howell's pick off attempt.
NOTES: Tampa Bay DH-LF Hideki Matsui was out of the lineup one day after homering in his Rays' debut. He entered in the sixth and went 0 for 2. ... Matsui will earn $615,519 from his contract with the Rays if he stays on the 40-man roster for the rest of the season. Matsui was put on the 40-man roster Tuesday, meaning he will earn 128 days of major league pay from the 183-day season. His contract lists an $880,000 salary while in the majors and a $250,000 salary while in the minors. ... White Sox LHP John Danks (strained left shoulder) threw at 60 feet on level ground and could rejoin the rotation early next week. ... Chicago 3B Brent Morel (lower back strain) is set to start a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. ... Rays OF Desmond Jennings (sprained left knee) is scheduled to start playing in minor league rehab games Thursday.
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