Beckham, Floyd lead White Sox over Orioles 7-5

[August 25, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Gordon Beckham hit a three-run home run in the seventh, Gavin Floyd pitched seven strong innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-5 on Tuesday night.

The White Sox won for just the fifth time in 15 games, moving within 3 1/2 games of first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.

Luke Scott homered and Felix Pie had three hits for the Orioles, who have lost eight of 12.

A.J. Pierzynski opened the bottom of seventh with a single off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. One out later, Mark Teahen hit a double down the right-field line, moving Pierzynski to third. Beckham followed with his eighth homer to break a 2-all tie.

Guthrie's night ended after he hit Alex Rios in the back later in the inning.

Floyd (9-10) allowed two runs and scattered seven hits. He struck out six and walked two.

Guthrie (7-13) was tagged for six runs on 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Paul Konerko added an RBI single off Baltimore reliever Matt Albers, and Juan Pierre hit an RBI single in the eighth to give the White Sox a 7-2 lead.

The White Sox needed the insurance runs for their struggling bullpen. Reliever Sergio Santos did not record an out and gave up a pair of RBI singles to Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis in the ninth. J.J. Putz, struggling with inflammation in his right knee, inherited runners at first and third with no outs but left after throwing three straight balls to Ty Wigginton.

Closer Bobby Jenks got Wigginton to hit a comebacker to start a double play. Roberts scored on the double play, but Jenks then got Scott to fly out for his 24th save in 27 opportunities.

Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, the White Sox loaded the bases with no outs. Pierre hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, but that's the only run they would get in the inning. Omar Vizquel popped out and Beckham was picked off by catcher Matt Wieters to end the inning.

Scott led off the fourth inning with a drive to right on a 1-1 pitch for 25th homer of the season. Adam Jones reached first after getting hit by a pitch and went to third on Pie's single. Jones scored on Wieter's fielder's choice.

Jones led off the second inning with a walk and advanced to third on Pie's single. But Jones was left stranded at third. He wasn't able to score on Wieters' double play ball, and the inning ended on Cesar Izturis' infield groundout.

Rios singled in the bottom of the fourth and took third on Konerko's single. Rios then scored on Carlos Quentin's double play ball.

Pie made a diving catch on Pierre's ball in left field and threw to first to double up Beckham in the third inning.

NOTES: White Sox left-handed reliever Matt Thornton was unavailable. He is out with a sore left forearm. ... Jones left the game after the top of the fourth with a contusion on his left shoulder. ... Both teams were issued warnings after Guthrie hit Rios in the seventh. ... The White Sox have had 10 or more hits in 10 straight games. ... Pierre extended his hitting streak to 12 games and finished with three hits.

[Associated Press]

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