White Sox rally to beat Rays

[July 23, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run triple and Jermaine Dye added a go-ahead RBI single in an unusual seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox came back to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Scott Podsednik homered for the White Sox, who pulled within one game of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

The Rays went through five pitchers in an unusual seventh inning caused by an injury to Chad Bradford during warm-up tosses on the mound.

White Sox reliever D.J. Carrasco (3-0) pitched a perfect seventh inning and Matt Thornton pitched two scoreless innings for his first save of the season.

Leading 3-1, the trouble began when Rays starter James Shields walked Gordon Beckham with two outs.

Rays manager Joe Maddon replaced Shields with left-hander Randy Choate to face Scott Podsednik. Podsednik hit a bouncer to shortstop Jason Bartlett, who made a bad throw that allowed Beckham and Podsednik to move to second and third.

Maddon then brought in Bradford, who after several warm-up pitches, had to leave the game with lower back stiffness.

Dan Wheeler (3-3) came in to face Ramirez, who hit a ball to center, that looked to be a routine fly out, but B.J. Upton misjudged the ball and it went over his head allowing two runs to score. Dye followed with a RBI single to make it 4-3.

Gabe Gross hit a two-run homer and Pat Burrell added a solo shot for the Rays.

Shields, who has not won since June 20, allowed two runs on four hits in 6 2-3 innings.

White Sox starter Carlos Torres made his major league debut in place of left-hander John Danks, who missed the start with a blister on his left index finger.

Burrell tagged Torres for a solo shot in the fourth inning on a 1-0 pitch. It was his sixth of the season.

In the sixth inning, Ben Zobrist extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff single. One out later Gross hit his fifth homer of the season to make it 3-0.

Torres allowed three runs and six hits over six innings. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked three.

NOTES: Before the game, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen defended closer Bobby Jenks and made it clear the closer job is still his. Jenks, suffered the loss and his third blown save of the season on Tuesday in a 3-2 loss to the Rays. "(He) blew one game, it's not two, it's one obviously that broke our heart but there is nobody in this room that feels worst than him. All of sudden, people treat him like he was a piece of garbage. The way they treat him is not fair," said Guillen. ... Danks is scheduled to throw a side session on Saturday. If all goes well, he will make his next scheduled start against the Twins on Monday.

[Associated Press]

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