Rays' Rookie Richie Shaffer Get First MLB HR; Gives High Fives To Imaginary Teammates [VIDEO]
ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — Chris Sale insisted there is nothing wrong with him. He's just not getting the results.
The four-time All-Star gave up seven runs for a second straight start, and the Chicago White Sox got pounded by the Tampa Bay Rays 11-3 on Tuesday night.
"I feel fine," Sale said. "My arm feels good, my body feels good, I feel loose. It's just not showing up. I don't know what it is."
Sale fell to 1-3 in his past four starts. The four-time All-Star gave up six hits over 5 1/3 innings.
"We all just expect him being an ace and how talented he is to just dominate every time and the reality is he's human," catcher Tyler Flowers said. "He's just showing he's human like the rest of us and he makes mistakes, too."
Chris Archer pitched seven strong innings and Tampa Bay backed him with a season-high four homers.
Archer (10-8) allowed two runs and six hits for his first win since June 23. And the Rays matched their highest home run total since Sept. 7.
Logan Forsythe, Mikie Mahtook, Asdrubal Cabrera and Richie Shaffer went deep. Kevin Kiermaier and Rene Rivera each had three hits, and Tampa Bay improved to 5-0 against Chicago.
Forsythe hit a two-run drive in the first. Mahtook made it 3-1 when he connected leading off the fifth, and the Rays chased Sale (9-7) in a five-run sixth. They sent 10 batters to the plate in that inning and added two more runs in the seventh on back-to-back homers against Daniel Webb by Cabrera and Shaffer, whose drive to the right-field bullpen was the first hit of his career.
Archer, who retired the first 19 batters in a loss to Detroit last week, finally got a win after going 0-4 in his previous six starts. The All-Star right-hander struck out seven and walked one.
Chicago's Tyler Saladino hit a solo homer off Archer in the third. Avisail Garcia went deep in the ninth, but the White Sox lost for the fifth time in six games after winning seven in a row.
Sale left trailing 5-1 in the sixth after Kiermaier blooped an RBI single to center. A second run scored on the play when Flowers allowed Adam Eaton's throw to roll between his legs and no one backed up the plate.
"Obviously that ball has to be stopped by me," Flowers said. "As a team we didn't execute that how you're supposed to. Ultimately there's a ball trickling in. I haven't looked at it to see how that possibly happens. Yeah, not a very good job."
ANNIVERSARIES
Tuesday marked the 22nd anniversary of White Sox manager Robin Ventura's infamous fight with Texas' Nolan Ryan and the 30th of Tom Seaver's 300th win.
Seaver reached that milestone pitching for the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Ventura and Ryan provided one of the more memorable images. The White Sox third baseman charged the mound after getting hit by a pitch and wound up in a headlock while getting punched in the head by the 46-year-old Ryan.
"I don't know if it's a national or state holiday in Texas," Ventura said. "Do people get the day off for it?"
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Manager Kevin Cash said "everything's good" with OF Desmond Jennings (left knee bursitis), on a rehab assignment with Durham. He was expected to play five or six innings Tuesday after going 0 for 4 on Monday. ... Cash said LHP Drew Smyly (torn left labrum) will make at least two more rehab starts, including one Thursday for Durham.
White Sox: Not sure if OF J.B. Shuck (strained left hamstring) will go on a rehab assignment before he returns. He went on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday.
UP NEXT
White Sox LHP Carlos Rodon (4-4, 4.84 ERA) and Rays RHP Erasmo Ramirez (8-4, 3.61) start as the teams wrap up the three-game series. Rodon, a rookie, gave up a career-high eight runs over three-plus innings in his shortest start last week against the New York Yankees. Ramirez is coming off a no-decision against Boston.
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