Colome, Rays hold off White Sox, end 8-game skid

[April 10, 2018]  Mallex Smith went 4-for-4 with an RBI triple and Matt Duffy stroked a pair of RBI singles Monday as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the snow and the Chicago White Sox 5-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

It was just the second win in 10 games for Tampa Bay, and its first since rallying from a 4-1 eighth-inning deficit on Opening Day to beat Boston. The Rays also got a solo home run from Joey Wendle and two hits, plus two runs, from Carlos Gomez.

Chris Archer (1-0) got the win after working 5 2/3 innings, permitting six hits and four runs, three of which were earned. He walked three and fanned eight.

Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his second save. He worked out of a second-and-third, no-outs jam, getting three groundouts.

Chicago (3-6) lost despite a two-run homer from Nicky Delmonico and two-hit games from second baseman Yoan Moncada and right fielder Leury Garcia. Starter Miguel Gonzalez (0-2) lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs with two walks and no strikeouts.

The game was delayed 21 minutes past the scheduled 1:10 p.m. start as the grounds crew had to clear between two to 2 1/2 inches of snow off the field. Using lawnmowers in lieu of plows, which would have chewed up the outfield, groundskeepers made the surface playable.

Duffy's first run-scoring hit in the first chased Gomez home from second as he took advantage of the ball trickling away from Moncada in short right. The White Sox answered with Yolmer Sanchez's sacrifice fly in the inning's bottom.

White Sox starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez (58) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Smith rifled his triple to the gap in right-center in the fourth, plating Daniel Robertson to give Tampa Bay the lead for good. Wendle led off the fifth with his first homer to make it 3-1, and Duffy's second run-producing single chased Gonzalez.

Delmonico took advantage of a meaty 0-2 slider by Archer in the inning's bottom, lining a homer down the right field line that scored Moncada to cut the deficit to 4-3. Denard Span singled home Smith in the sixth for what turned out to be the winning run.

Omar Narvaez's RBI double in the Chicago sixth made it a one-run game again, but the White Sox couldn't push the tying run across, leaving two aboard in the eighth.

--Field Level Media

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