White Sox wallop Indians 7-2 behind Teahen

[May 25, 2010]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- Mark Teahen drove in three runs, John Danks went the minimum to stop a personal three-game slide and the Chicago White Sox snapped a five-game losing streak against Cleveland by beating the hapless Indians 7-2 on Monday night.

Teahen hit a two-run double in Chicago's four-run first inning off Justin Masterson (0-5), who lost his 11th straight decision. The right-hander hasn't won in 16 starts since Aug. 20.

Danks (4-3) allwed two runs and six hits in five innings. The left-hander was winless in his previous four starts, and the White Sox scored just three runs in his last three outings.

After shutting out the Indians on opening day in Chicago, the White Sox dropped five in a row to the AL Central's last-place team.

Alex Rios hit his ninth homer for the White Sox.

Chicago's Omar Vizquel got his 2,764th career hit, moving him into a tie with Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, his boyhood idol, for the second-most by a shortstop. Vizquel's hit total is second only to New York Yankees star Derek Jeter, who entered the week with 2,782.

Vizquel got another single in the ninth, but he had moved to third base in the seventh.

When Vizquel joined the White Sox, he couldn't wear his familiar No. 13 because it belonged to Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, who wouldn't give it up. So Vizquel asked Aparicio, a fellow Venezuelan, if he could wear No. 11 to honor the longtime shortstop. Aparicio gave his blessing and the White Sox unretired the number for Vizquel to wear this season.

Vizquel singled in the fifth off Aaron Laffey to match Aparicio, whose number was retired in 1984. The 43-year-old Vizquel received a warm ovation from Cleveland fans, who adored the 11-time Gold Glove winner during his 11 seasons playing for the Indians.

Masterson's season-long slide shows no signs of slowing.

The right-hander needed 44 pitches to get out of the first, and by the time he retired Vizquel on a fly to deep right for the third out, the Indians were already in a 4-0 hole.

Chicago scored on Rios' RBI groundout, Mark Kotsay's run-scoring double and Teahen's two-run double to left-center.

Danks, meanwhile, set the Indians down on 13 pitches in the first and had four strikeouts in two innings before Cleveland threatened with a leadoff single and double in the third. The left-hander easily worked out of the jam, but couldn't escape a similar mess in the fourth.

The Indians, who have lost seven of eight, closed within 5-2 on Matt LaPorta's RBI groundout and Lou Marson's run-scoring single.

Chicago answered with a run in the seventh when second baseman Mark Grudzielanek couldn't handle Teahen's hard single up the middle with a runner at third.

NOTES: Once a team that regularly fielded several All-Stars, the Indians are virtually being ignored in fan balloting. Shin-Soo Choo is the only Cleveland player being noticed, ranking 14th among outfielders with 127,042 votes in the first figures released. The top three will fill the starting spots. ... Guillen was saddened by the death of pitcher Jose Lima, who died Sunday of an apparent heart attack at 37. "He was the same guy no matter if he was getting hit or if he was pitching well," Guillen said. "You don't see that from anybody else. When they're good, they're all cocky and pumped up and when they're down, they want to disappear. He was fun. Some people hated him, but to me he was awesome. I loved the way he played."

[Associated Press; By TOM WITHERS]

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