White Sox Pound Oswalt & Rangers 19-2
CHICAGO (AP) – Kevin Youkilis, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios homered in the first inning off Roy Oswalt and All-Star Chris Sale won his 10th game Tuesday night and the Chicago White Sox routed the Texas Rangers 19-2.
Playing in his first home game with the White Sox since his trade from Boston on June 24, Youkilis had three hits and drove in four runs in a meeting of division leaders that saw Chicago score its most runs this season.
A.J. Pierzynski, not chosen for the AL All-Star team managed by Texas' skipper Ron Washington, hit a three-run homer off reliever Yoshinori Tateyama-- his 15th of the season -- to cap a nine-run fifth inning and make it 16-0. Seven of the runs in the inning were unearned, thanks to an error on Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
Sale (10-2) is 7-0 in his past nine starts and hasn't lost since May 12.
The lanky lefty will likely not pitch again before the break and then be available for the All-Star game in a week. He allowed five hits and was charged with a run in 7 1-3 innings.
Elvis Andrus hit a two-run double in the eighth off reliever Brian Omogrosso after the White Sox had built a 19-0 lead.
Oswalt (2-1) was pounded for 13 hits and charged with 11 runs in 4 2-3 innings, throwing 112 pitches in his third start since joining the Rangers' organization in May.
In the first, Youkilis hit a two-run homer -- his fifth of the season and first since joining Chicago -- and Dunn followed with his 25th of the season. One out later, Rios connected for his 11th and a 4-0 lead. The White Sox tied their season high with 21 hits.
Alejandro De Aza tripled in the second and scored on Youkilis' single. Dunn doubled home Youkilis and then scored on Paul Konerko's single for a 7-0 lead.
Alexei Ramirez and Rios had two-run singles in the fifth before Pierzynski connected.
The Rangers are still 50-31 halfway through the season, the best record through 81 games in team history. They've won 17 of their past 23 and still hold the best record in the majors, despite the lopsided defeat.
The Rangers' most lopsided loss in team history was by 21 runs at Oakland in 2000 by the score of 23-2. Earlier this season they lost 21-8 to Seattle.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press)
