Jones hits 399th homer as White Sox top Angels 4-1

[July 07, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Andruw Jones hit his 399th career home run and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 despite losing starter Jake Peavy in the second inning because of a back injury.

Alex Rios added a solo homer and drove in two runs for the White Sox, who are a major league-best 20-5 since June 9 and are a season-high six games over .500.

With the White Sox leading 1-0 in the second inning with two outs, Peavy jumped off the mound after throwing an outside fastball to Mike Napoli. He came off the mound raising his right arm and walked straight to the dugout with team trainer Herm Schneider walking beside him.

The team called the injury a back strain and said Peavy will be reevaluated Wednesday.

The White Sox contemplated skipping Peavy's turn in the rotation on June 17 at Pittsburgh because of an achy right shoulder, but after an MRI showed no damage, Peavy insisted on pitching two days later against Washington. In that game, he tossed a three-hitter for his fourth career shutout.

The former Cy Young winner came into Tuesday's start with a 7-6 record and 4.70 ERA, but he was 3-1 with a 1.55 ERA in his previous four starts.

White Sox reliever Tony Pena (2-1) picked up the win, allowing only one run on five hits in 4 1-3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.

J.J. Putz and Matt Thornton each pitched a scoreless inning and closer Bobby Jenks got his 18th save in 19 opportunities for Chicago.

Torii Hunter had three singles for the Angels, who have lost four of five.

The White Sox finally were able to beat Angels starter Jered Weaver (8-4), who entered the game 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in his last four starts. Weaver was 4-0 with a 0.52 ERA lifetime against the White Sox in five starts.

Weaver allowed four runs on seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out six and walked two in his first loss since winning three straight decisions.

After getting buzzed by Weaver on a 0-2 pitch near his head in the fourth inning, Rios homered off Weaver in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.

In the seventh, Jones tagged Weaver for his 11th homer of the season. He broke an 0-for-17 slump with his first homer since June 3 against Texas. Dayan Viciedo followed with a single and Brent Lilibridge chased Weaver with a double, moving Viciedo to third. Juan Pierre followed with an RBI infield single off reliever Kevin Jepsen that Napoli wasn't able to handle.

Pierre doubled in the first inning and stole third and scored on Rios' fly out.

The White Sox stayed one game behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central.

Pena allowed leadoff single to Hunter in the fourth inning and walked Hideki Matsui. Napoli followed with a RBI single. With runners on first and third with one out, Rivera was caught stealing, he was eventually tagged out in a rundown. Matsui, who was at third, never broke for home and was stranded after Kevin Frandsen flied out.

The game started after a 1-hour, 41-minute rain delay.

NOTES: Angels INF Maicer Izturis, who has been on the DL since June 16 with a strained right forearm, will start swinging the bat Wednesday, according to Angels manager Mike Scioscia. ... White Sox RF Carlos Quentin missed the game with a sore left knee. He is listed day-to-day.

[Associated Press]

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