Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Matt Joyce belted a pair of home runs to back a
terrific rebound start from Matt Moore as the surging Tampa Bay Rays continued
their postseason push with a 10-4 rout of the slumping Chicago White Sox
Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field.
The win, Tampa Bay's ninth in its last 10 contests, kept the club three games
back of Oakland for one of the American League's two wild card berths with
four remaining. The Athletics rallied for a 7-4, 10-inning win over Seattle on
Saturday.
Chicago, meanwhile, fell for the ninth time in its past 11 bouts and dropped
to two games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central race after the
Tigers defeated Minnesota on Saturday.
Moore (11-11) yielded just one hit and two walks over 5 1/3 shutout innings
to end a six-start winless drought. The rookie left-hander had gone 0-4
with a 5.72 earned run average over that stretch and hadn't lasted more than
four innings in any of his last three starts.
Joyce had a solo homer in the seventh inning and a three-run shot in the
eighth to help Tampa Bay also trim its deficit to four games in the AL East
after the division-leading New York Yankees were dealt a 3-2 loss in Toronto
earlier in the day.
Jeff Keppinger added a two-run blast off Chicago starter Chris Sale and Chris
Gimenez went 2-for-3 with a solo homer in contributing to Tampa Bay's 13-hit
attack.
Sale (17-8) was tagged for five runs and seven hits while issuing three walks
over just 3 1/3 innings in his shortest start of the season. The 17-game
winner, who did strike out seven before exiting, had been 8-0 with a 1.45 ERA
in his last 10 home starts.
Orlando Hudson accounted for the White Sox' scoring with a pinch-hit grand
slam in the bottom of the eighth, one of only four Chicago hits on the day.
After stranding four runners over the first two innings, the Rays broke out
with a three-run third to open the scoring.
B.J. Upton began the frame with a walk and Ben Zobrist followed with a double
into the left-field corner for a 1-0 Tampa lead. Two batters later, Keppinger
launched Sale's full-count offering into the seats to extend the margin to
three.
The Rays poured it on in the fifth, with Sean Rodriguez and Gimenez reaching
base on a walk and single, respectively, before Upton laced a one-out base hit
to chase Sale and plate Rodriguez. Evan Longoria later added an RBI single
that scored Gimenez and further lengthened the Tampa Bay lead.
Gimenez made it 6-0 with his first home run of the season, a solo blast off
reliever Duente Heath in the sixth, and Joyce connected against Dylan Axelrod
one inning later for his first homer since Sept. 1.
Joyce pushed the lead to 10-0 by taking Leyson Septimo's pitch over the wall
in right center in the eighth. Zobrist, who had reached on an error, and
Longoria, who drew a walk, both came home on the play.
Chicago finally ended the shutout bid in the bottom of the inning, with Rays
reliever Chris Archer walking two batters around a Ray Olmedo single before
serving up Hudson's slam.
Moore retired the first 13 White Sox hitters until Alex Rios singled with one
out in the bottom of the fifth. Rios collected two of Chicago's four hits for
the game.
Game Notes
Sale had not lost at U.S. Cellular Field since May 12 against Kansas City ...
The Rays had scored only 10 runs total in their first five games against
Chicago this season, four of which were White Sox wins ... Gimenez's homer was
his first in the majors since Sept. 25, 2011 at Texas, while then a member of
Seattle .... White Sox center fielder Alejandro De Aza was scratched from the
starting lineup due to flu-like symptoms .... Zobrist ended 2-for-4 with two
runs scored and is hitting .379 (22-for-58) over his last 16 games.
The Sports Network