Podsednik lifts White Sox to win

[August 05, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Scott Podsednik's RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning lifted the Chicago White Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night, snapping Los Angeles' eight-game road winning streak.

After Kevin Jepsen (3-3) retired the inning's first two batters, he allowed Jayson Nix's double. Podsednik followed with a line drive to right-center field and was mobbed by his teammates on the infield as Nix scored.

It was the third game-ending hit this season by Podsednik, a 2005 World Series star for Chicago who was re-signed by the team after Colorado cut him in April.

Matt Thornton (6-2), the fourth reliever to pitch superbly after wild-throwing White Sox starter Jose Contreras lasted only 2 2-3 innings, got the win as Chicago pulled within a game of Detroit in the AL Central.

The Angels had a five-game winning streak snapped. They had won 16 of 19 on the road and 34 of 45 overall but wasted John Lackey's strong eight-inning performance.

After a pregame ceremony in which the White Sox honored Mark Buehrle for his July 23 perfect game, Contreras was anything but perfect in blowing an early 2-0 lead.

He walked five batters and allowed three third-inning runs after walking the bases loaded. Two runs scored on Bobby Abreu's single and the other on a wild pitch. Since a six-start stretch in which his command was exceptional and he had a 2.06 ERA, Contreras is 0-3 in four outings with 15 walks and a 6.52 ERA.

Paul Konerko's sacrifice fly tied it in Chicago's third before Abreu, who has an AL-high 55 RBIs since June 1, gave the Angels a 4-3 lead with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly off D.J. Carrasco.

The White Sox pulled even in the seventh when Podsednik's two-out bunt attempt resulted in a pop-up over the infield that landed just inside the left-field foul line for a fortuitous double. Gordon Beckham followed with an RBI single.

Those were the only hits Lackey allowed in his final 5 2-3 innings as he rebounded strongly after surrendering early homers to Beckham and Carlos Quentin.

NOTES: White Sox closer Bobby Jenks was unavailable for the game because he had to be treated for a kidney stone. ... Angels DH Vladimir Guerrero was activated from the DL and went 1-for-3 with a walk. The Angels are 20-22 with him in the lineup, 43-19 without the eight-time All-Star. ... As part of the pregame ceremony, the words "THE CATCH" were unveiled on the wall in left-center field where Dewayne Wise made the homer-robbing grab that preserved Buehrle's perfect game. ... White Sox SS Alexei Ramirez missed his fifth straight game with a sprained right ankle.

[Associated Press]

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