White Sox win 9th straight, beat Mariners

[June 02, 2012]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Alexei Ramirez drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out infield single in the eighth inning Friday night and the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 7-4 for their ninth straight win.

Gordon Beckham homered twice and Adam Dunn also connected off Felix Hernandez as Chicago took a 4-0 lead. The White Sox then scored three times in the eighth, helped by a Mariners misplay.

Paul Konerko led off with a fly and the ball glanced off center fielder Michael Saunders' glove and then hit him for a two-base error.

With two outs and runners at the corners, Ramirez hit a slow grounder to shortstop Brendan Ryan and beat the throw as pinch-runner Brent Lillibridge scored. Alejandro De Aza added a two-run single.

Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.

Jesse Crain (1-0) got the win. Shawn Kelly (0-2) took the loss.

Held to a puny single and two walks through the first six innings, the Mariners rallied with two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings to wipe out a 4-0 deficit.

Chicago starter Jake Peavy didn't allow a hit through four innings before Justin Smoak's pop in front of the plate for a single leading off the fifth went for a single. Dustin Ackley opened the seventh with a double down the left-field line and Kyle Seager followed with a two-run homer.

Seager had an RBI single off Matt Thornton in the eighth to bring the Mariners within 4-3 and Smoak delivered a game-tying single off Crain.

Beckham hit a two-run shot in the first. He and Dunn had back-to-back homers in the fifth.

Peavy gave up three hits, two runs, walked three and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings.

Beckham's sixth homer was a liner down the left-field line that scored De Aza, who'd been hit by a pitch leading off the first.

After Beckham connected with two outs in the fifth, Dunn sent one down the line in right for his 17th home run of the season.

Hernandez gave up five hits and four runs in five innings with four walks and six strikeouts.

When Smoak hit the high pop in front of the plate in the fifth, Chicago catcher Pierzynski stepped out to make the catch with Peavy coming off the mound. The ball dropped just out of Pierzynski's reach without him touching it.

NOTES: Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki returned to the leadoff spot for the first time this season after batting third in 52 games. ... Chicago LHP John Danks, on the DL with a left shoulder strain, threw 20 pitches on the side and said he felt fine and was making progress. Danks will have another side session Sunday. ... A crowd of 19,168 was announced with a gametime temperature of 57 degrees. ... Thornton's appearance was his 425th in relief for the White Sox, setting a franchise record that he'd shared with Bobby Thigpen.

[Associated Press; By RICK GANO]

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