Chicago White Sox's Kevin Youkilis follows through on an RBI single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Friday, July 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Sitthixay Ditthavong)
July 06, 2012 - 10:56 PM
CHICAGO - Jake Peavy pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning for his first victory since May 26, A.J. Pierzynski homered and the Chicago White Sox won their fourth straight by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Friday night.
On a night when the game-time temperature was 91, the White Sox finally got Peavy some runs and helped him end his skid. He'd been 0-4 in his previous four starts — throwing two complete games — when Chicago scored only two runs total during those losses.
Peavy (7-5) allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings, walked two and struck out seven. He threw 115 pitches on the steamy night and left to a big ovation after retiring the leadoff hitter in the eighth.
Addison Reed earned his 13th save in 14 chances despite giving up a run in the ninth. He walked leadoff hitter Edwin Encarnacion, gave up a single to Adam Lind and a sacrifice fly to Yunel Escobar before getting Rajai Davis to ground into a game-ending double play.
Lind hit his seventh homer in the second to give Toronto and lefty Aaron Laffey the early lead before the White Sox got three in the fifth with the aid of two Blue Jays errors.
Alexei Ramirez, Gordon Beckham and Kevin Youkilis had RBIs in the fifth inning, and Pierzynski made it a three-run cushion with his 16th homer in the sixth.
Laffey (0-1) yielded eight hits and four runs — three earned — in six innings with a walk and four strikeouts.
Dayan Viciedo led off the fifth with a double and scored on Ramirez's single. Ramirez made it to second on the throw and went to third when Toronto left fielder Davis' peg sailed over the head of catcher J.P. Arencibia for an error.
Beckham then followed with a bloop single to left between three defenders to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead and made second when third baseman Brett Lawrie made an errant flip attempt to Davis, hoping to get the ball back to the infield. Beckham advanced to third on a fly ball and scored an RBI single by Youkilis. It was Youkilis' seventh RBI in the four-game homestand, his first with the White Sox since a trade from Boston last month.
Notes: White Sox RHP Phil Humber, on the DL with a strained elbow, made a rehab start Friday night, pitching for Triple-A Charlotte. He gave up five hits, including a homer, and two runs in four innings. ... Pierzynski is two homers shy of matching his career high of 18 set in 2005. ... The Blue Jays are 24-10 against the White Sox since 2008.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012