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 Gross, making a rare start against left-handed pitching, lined a two-run triple off Mark Buehrle to make it 3-all in the fifth. Gross then delivered his third homer of the season on an 0-2 pitch from lefty Matt Thornton (1-1) in the 10th.
The surprising Rays maintained their one-game division lead over Boston, and they take their league-best record of 35-22 to Fenway Park for the start of a three-game series Tuesday night. Tampa Bay is 13 games over .500 for the first time in the team's 11-season history.
The finale of the four-game set against the AL Central-leading White Sox drew a crowd of 24,720.
That was down from the sellout of 36,048 on Saturday night, when the big attraction was a postgame concert by country music star Trace Adkins, but well above the Rays' AL-worst season average of 18,228.
J.P. Howell (4-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory, which enabled Tampa Bay to go 8-2 on the team's longest homestand of the year. The Rays have won 10 of their last 12 series, including seven straight at home since losing two of three to the White Sox six weeks ago.
After going 3-for-25 with runners in scoring position in the first three games of the series, the White Sox were 2-of-9 against Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine, who gave up a two-run double to Alexei Ramirez in the second and Orlando Cabrera's RBI single in the fifth to fall behind 3-1.
But Chicago's inability to make the most of its early opportunities helped the Rays remain in the game.
B.J. Upton tripled and scored Tampa Bay's first run in the fourth. Jonny Gomes and Shawn Riggans doubled in the fifth before Gross lined his triple to right-center to make it 3-all.
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Sonnanstine, who pitched a three-hitter to beat Buehrle 5-0 at Tropicana Field on April 19, allowed three runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Chicago squandered a couple of scoring chances late, including the 10th inning, when it stranded the potential go-ahead run at third base after getting a leadoff double from Jim Thome.
Notes: Gross was 1-for-10 against left-handed pitching before his fifth-inning triple. ... Despite driving in Tampa Bay's first run, Carlos Pena continues to struggle at the plate. He was 2-for-15 with eight strikeouts in the series. ... White Sox LF Carlos Quentin, who had seven homers and an AL-leading 27 RBIs in May, had the day off. ... Tampa Bay went 19-10 in May, the second-most wins and second-best record in a single month in franchise history. The club was 20-6 in June 2004.
[Associated Press; By FRED GOODALL]
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