Konerko, Garcia lead White Sox to 6th straight win

[June 21, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Paul Konerko drove in three runs, Freddy Garcia won his fifth straight start and the Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Nationals 6-3 Sunday for their season-high sixth victory in a row.

The Nationals lost their season-worst sixth straight game.

The White Sox went 8-1 on their road trip and reached .500 for the first time since they were 1-1 in early April. Alex Rios added three hits and two RBIs for Chicago.

Garcia (8-3) gave up three runs and six hits over seven innings. He struck out six, walked one and won for the first eighth time in nine starts.

Matt Thornton worked the eighth and J.J. Putz got the final three outs for his first save.

Down 3-1, the White Sox opened the fifth inning with six straight hits and chased John Lannan (2-6). Konerko put Chicago ahead with a two-run single.

Konerko gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the first with a two-out single that drove in Rios, who singled and stole second.

Garcia didn't allow a hit through three innings, fanning five, then ran into trouble in the fourth when the Nationals went ahead 3-1.

Cristian Guzman led off with a triple and scored the tying run on Adam Dunn's grounder. Guzman brushed home plate with his left hand, beating catcher Ramon Castro's tag after Konerko's throw.

Josh Willingham's single set up RBI singles by Roger Bernadina and Wil Nieves.

The White Sox retook the lead in the fifth. After singles by Juan Pierre and Alexei Ramirez, Rios doubled to cut Washington's lead to 3-2. Konerko followed with a two-run single up the middle, Chicago's 11th hit.

Miguel Batista relieved and Carlos Quentin and Castro singled before Dayan Viciedo hit into a run-scoring double play that made it 5-3.

Rios drove in a ninth-inning insurance run.

NOTES: Nationals CF Nyjer Morgan made a nice running grab in right-center to rob Viciedo of an extra-base hit in his first major league at-bat in the second. Viciedo singled to center in the fourth and finished 1 for 4 in his debut. ... Bernadina has hit safely in 14 of 17 June games. ... Castro was credited with his second career stolen base -- his first since 2005 -- in the second when SS Ian Desmond couldn't get C Nieves' pickoff throw out of his glove, allowing Castro to reach third. The play was originally scored as an error by SS Desmond, but changed before the fifth inning.

[Associated Press]

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