Dye, White Sox beat Bucs 13-8 to complete sweep

[June 20, 2008]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Jermaine Dye hit two homers, including a seventh-inning grand slam, and drove in six runs as the Chicago White Sox finished a three-game sweep by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-8 Thursday.

Orlando Cabrera also homered and had four RBIs as the White Sox rallied from an early 6-0 deficit with another offensive outburst against Pittsburgh. They had 19 hits in a 16-5 win in Tuesday's series opener and collected 15 more hits Thursday.

The White Sox scored 37 runs, had 44 hits and hit 10 homers in the three games and now head across town to Wrigley Field for a three-game series with the rival Cubs in a showdown of first-place teams.

After the Pirates scored six unearned runs in the second with Nate McLouth hitting a three-run double and Freddy Sanchez a two-run homer, the White Sox quickly responded with half a dozen in the bottom half -- capped by Cabrera's three-run homer.

Gavin Floyd (8-3) won his fourth straight decision, giving up six hits and seven runs -- one earned -- in 5 2-3 innings.

Dye's grand slam came off reliever John Grabow and followed a single by A.J. Pierzynski and back-to-back walks. Jim Thome's RBI single gave the White Sox an 8-7 lead in the fifth and Cabrera added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 9-7.

Dye hit a solo homer to put Chicago ahead 7-6 in the third before Sanchez's RBI single tied it in the fourth.

Thome opened Chicago's six-run second with a double, Dye doubled him home and, after a single by Nick Swisher, Alexei Ramirez and Pablo Ozuna delivered RBI singles before Cabrera hit his sixth homer, connecting off Phil Dumatrait.

Dumatrait (3-4), a rookie lefty, worked five-plus inning, yielding 11 hits and nine runs.

A walk and two singles loaded the bases for the Pirates with two outs in the second and Floyd appeared to be out of the inning when Raul Chavez hit an easy bouncer to third baseman Ozuna. But Ozuna pulled second baseman Ramirez off the bag with a high throw for an error as the first run scored. 

McLouth followed with a three-run double into the right-field corner and Sanchez gave the Pirates a 6-0 cushion with his fourth homer.

Notes: Dye has seven career grand slams. ... The Pirates have homered in nine straight games. ... Pittsburgh is 1-8 this season in Chicago. The Bucs are also 1-5 against the Cubs ... Pierzynski has a 13-game hitting streak. ... Pirates 1B Doug Mientkiewicz made a nice catch of Brian Anderson's foul pop to end the seventh, reaching over a railing and then falling over it but holding onto the ball.

[Associated Press; By RICK GANO]

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