Rios leads White Sox over Mariners 6-5

[July 29, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Alex Rios hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning and the slugging Chicago White Sox rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 Wednesday night for their 10th straight home win.

Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham went deep for the White Sox, who hit three homers for the second straight day. Konerko's tying solo shot in the fifth was his third in three games and No. 24 for the season.

Chicago (56-44) has won three straight and four of six to move 12 games over .500, tying a season high. The AL Central leaders also earned their 17th win in the last 18 games at U.S. Cellular Field.

Chone Figgins hit a rare homer for slumping Seattle, which has dropped 19 of 25. Ichiro Suzuki went 2 for 5 and scored two runs.

Juan Pierre, who reached base three times, started the winning rally with a leadoff walk against Jamey Wright (1-3). He took second with his major league-best 38th steal and moved to third on Ramirez's sacrifice.

Brandon League came in to face Rios, who bounced a single past a drawn-in infield and into left field, making it 6-5. Rios also singled in a run in the first.

Matt Thornton (3-3) got Michael Saunders to fly out with the bases loaded to end the seventh. J.J. Putz worked the eighth before Bobby Jenks struck out the side for his 21st save in 23 chances.

The White Sox overcame a rough outing by Mark Buehrle to improve to 8-1 against Seattle this season. They will go for the four-game sweep Thursday when Freddy Garcia faces Mariners right-hander David Pauley.

Figgins went deep in the second inning, increasing Seattle's lead to 5-1 with a drive to left after Suzuki's two-out single. It was the first homer for the speedy infielder since Sept. 22 for the Los Angeles Angels against the New York Yankees.

The White Sox erased the deficit with the long ball: Beckham's two-run homer in the second, Ramirez's leadoff drive in the fifth and Konerko's tying shot later in the same inning.

Ramirez connected for the second straight day and is 10 for 15 with six RBIs in his last four games.

Suzuki and Figgins got the Mariners off to a fast start after they were outscored 17-1 in the first two games of the four-game series.

Suzuki sparked Seattle's three-run first with a leadoff single and advanced to second on Figgins' perfectly placed bunt hit. Franklin Gutierrez, back in the lineup after missing Tuesday's 11-0 loss to attend to a family matter, then singled to center, giving the Mariners the lead and snapping an 0-for-15 rut.

With one out and runners on first and third, Buehrle had Russell Branyan picked off first but Figgins broke for home, getting credit for a steal after shortstop Ramirez's throw got past catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Branyan moved to third on the error and scored on Justin Smoak's sacrifice fly.

Jason Vargas allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings for Seattle. He hadn't allowed more than one homer in a single start this year.

Buehrle, who had tossed two consecutive complete games, gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings.

Much of the game was played with three umpires after Brian Runge left before the top of the third. It was unclear exactly what caused Runge to depart. He took a foul tip off his mask in the bottom of the first.

Hunter Wendelstedt took over behind the plate after a 10-minute delay and there was no umpire in the middle of the field.

NOTES: With the trade deadline coming up on Saturday, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen brought a homemade sign to his pregame meeting with reporters. It read: "Don't ask me about trades. I don't know. Ask KW," referring to general manager Kenny Williams. Guillen grinned as he showed off the sign. ... Mariners INF Jose Lopez, who left Tuesday's game with a tight left hamstring, was held out and is day to day.

[Associated Press; By JAY COHEN]

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