Recap: Chicago WSox vs. Tampa Bay
Sports Network | August 23, 2008
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Carlos Pena drove in two with a single as part of a four-run eighth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays came back to defeat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3, in the second of a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field.
Akinori Iwamura added a base hit, two RBI and a run scored, while Jason Bartlett finished 3-for-4 for Tampa Bay, which has won five of their last six games.
Scott Kazmir was effective through six innings of work despite earning a no decision. The young left-hander gave up three runs on four hits while striking out seven and walking two. Grant Balfour (4-2) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Dan Wheeler earned his eighth save of the season.
Tampa Bay now holds a 5 1/2 game lead over Boston for first place in the AL East after the Red Sox lost 11-0 to Toronto on Saturday.
Jermaine Dye hit a pair of home runs for the White Sox, who were limited to four hits. They have dropped two straight after winning the previous five. Juan Uribe drove also knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly. Chicago fell to one game behind Minnesota for first place in the AL Central. Minnesota plays the Angels on Saturday night.
Javier Vazquez (10-11) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on five hits over seven-plus innings. The veteran right-hander fanned four and walked a batter.
With the White Sox holding a 3-1 lead through seven innings, the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out in the top eighth. Matt Thornton then replaced Vazquez and the left-hander walked Iwamura to force in a run and B.J. Upton followed with a run-scoring single to tie the game.
The Rays weren't finished as Pena stepped to the dish and lined a base hit to right, bringing in two more to give the visitors a 5-3 lead.
Chad Bradford retired the Sox in order in the eighth and Wheeler closed the door in the ninth.
After each team was held hitless through the first three and a half innings, Dye got the White Sox on the board when he hammered a first-pitch changeup over the left field wall with one out in the bottom of the fourth, giving Chicago the early lead.
Uribe's sacrifice fly in the fifth drove in Alexei Ramirez, who led off the inning with a triple to put the Sox up by a pair.
However, the Rays picked up a two-out run in the top of the sixth. Bartlett doubled, giving Tampa Bay its first baserunner of the contest and came around to score when Iwamura lined a single up the middle, making it a one-run game.
Dye's second homer of the game, a solo shot to left in the home half of the sixth, made it a 3-1 game.
Andy Sonnanstine (13-6) will get the start for Tampa Bay in the series finale on Sunday, while Mark Buehrle (11-10) gets the nod for the White Sox.
