LDN - Sports

White Sox's three-run ninth sinks Rangers

[July 01, 2017] CHICAGO -- Melky Cabrera didn't have time to bother with a video review before celebrating a walk-off hit and victory.

Cabrera drove in two runs with a game-ending double just inside the first-base line as the Chicago White Sox rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Texas Rangers 8-7 on Friday night.

The White Sox's stocky left fielder bounced a 2-1 pitch from closer Matt Bush just inside the bag. The Rangers challenged if the ball was fair, but the call by first-base umpire Adrian Johnson was upheld.

"I knew it was a fair ball when the umpire called it fair," Cabrera said through an interpreter. "I was waiting for him to make that call."

With Texas leading 7-5, Bush gave up singles to Adam Engel, Willy Garcia and Alen Hanson before Cabrera's game-winning hit with one out.

"We have confidence in ourselves," Cabrera said. "We know if we do our best, we will have a very good chance to win the game, and we did."

It was Cabrera's 14th game-winning, walk-off late appearance since 2009. And manager Rick Renteria wasn't surprised Cabrera finished the job.

"He's a professional hitter, who in certain situations just kind of seems to rise to the occasion," Renteria said. "That was just another example of it."

Bush (2-4) blew his fifth save in 15 chances and the Rangers lost their third straight.

"It wasn't a matter of not having it," Bush said. "I just struggled throwing my fastball up to put a guy away.

"I couldn't locate my heater up in the zone. It sucks. It's terrible. I hate it."

Chicago's Todd Frazier hit two solo homers and Jose Abreu launched one off Austin Bibens-Dirkx. The 32-year-old right-hander pitched into the sixth inning but failed to win his fourth straight decision in his fifth career major-league start.

Anthony Swarzak (4-2) struck out the side in the ninth to help the White Sox win their second straight.

Rougned Odor hit a two-run homer and Joey Gallo added a solo shot for Texas.

Frazier hit his 14th and 15th homers, going deep twice in a game for the eighth time in his career. Abreu's home run was his 14th but the first this season at home.

"When he hit it, we were talking about getting the baseball because everybody had been talking about how it was his first one at home," Renteria said. "Just in general I thought everybody did a nice job of picking each other up and continue to play the game through nine innings."

Bibens-Dirkx went 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs and eight hits before being replaced by Jose Leclerc.

Chicago starter Mike Pelfrey lasted five innings, giving up five runs, eight hits and two walks.

Shin-Soo Choo had three hits and drove in two runs with a single in a four-run fourth for the Rangers. Elvis Andrus had an RBI as Texas added two runs in the sixth.

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White Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera (53) is congratulated for hitting the game winning 2 RBI double during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Gallo hit his team-leading 21st homer but entered with just a .192 average and an MLB-leading 107 strikeouts.

White Sox DH Kevan Smith had three hits and an RBI. Yolmer Sanchez had two hits and drove in a run.

The first three Texas hitters reached to load the bases, but Pelfrey wriggled out of the jam with none scoring.

Choo and Andrus each singled before Pelfrey hit Nomar Mazara with a pitch. But the 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out Adrian Beltre and Odor grounded into a double play.

The White Sox jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom half on back-to-back solo shots to left field by Abreu and Frazier. It was the sixth time this season that Chicago hitters went deep consecutively.

Gallo launched a drive more than 400 feet into the left-center field bleachers on the first pitch of the third to cut it to 2-1.

The Rangers scored four runs in the fourth to jump ahead 5-2.

Beltre walked to lead off and Odor homered to right. With one out, Jonathan Lucroy and Mike Napoli singled and advanced to second and third on Gallo's groundout. Both runners scored on Choo's single up the middle.

Frazier cracked his second homer of the night on a full-count pitch to start the bottom of the fourth and cut it to 5-3. His liner landed in the first row of the left-center bleachers.

Andrus' single to left scored Carlos Gomez in the sixth, then Mike Napoli came home on Cabrera's error to make it 7-3.

NOTES: Slumping Chicago rookie INF Tim Anderson and rookie INF/DH Matt Davidson got the night off. Anderson entered with just one hit in his last six games (2-for-21) and Davidson was 1-for-20 with 13 strikeouts in his last five games. ... Texas manager Jeff Banister said he was concerned about his team's inability to manufacture runs and over-reliance on the home run. The Rangers entered with an American League-worst .238 team batting average. "Somewhere along the way you've got to hit some multi-point home runs," Banister said. "Balanced offense, in my opinion, is still the best."

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