White Sox Beat Red Sox 3-1 In 10 Innings
BOSTON -- Reliever Zach Duke pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the ninth inning and Jose Abreu delivered a two-run double in the 10th to give the struggling Chicago White Sox a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
Abreu hammered a 2-2 pitch from Craig Kimbrel (0-3) to right-center field with two outs in the 10th to give the White Sox only their 11th win in 37 games after a 23-10 start. A walk to Avisail Garcia and a single by J.B. Shuck set up the winning hit.
Kimbrel had 17 straight scoreless outings at Fenway Park since the season opener and turned in 17 scoreless outings in his last 18 tries.
Duke (2-0) used two strikeouts around a force at the plate to escape the ninth and deny Red Sox starter Steven Wright his ninth victory of the season.
Chicago reliever Zach Putnam walked the bases loaded in the ninth. With the White Sox playing five infielders, Dustin Pedroia, pinch hitting after a night of rest, struck out against Duke.
Christian Vazquez, guilty of a passed ball that allowed Wright to score before tying it with a single in the seventh, then hit a slow grounder to Tyler Saladino, the extra infielder stationed near second base. Saladino fielded and threw home -- with Alex Avila fielding the ball on a hop for the force. Pinch-hitter Ryan LaMarre, making his Red Sox debut, then struck out to kill the threat.
David Robertson worked the bottom of the 10th to pick up his 17th save of the season.
Wright allowed only an unearned run through nine innings, lowering his American League-leading ERA to 2.01. The knuckleballer has given up seven earned runs in the six games, none in three of his last four starts.
Chicago's Miguel Gonzalez, 6-1 lifetime against the Red Sox and 4-0 at Fenway Park, blanked the home team into the seventh when, with two outs and nobody on, Chris Young singled and Travis Shaw worked a 3-2 walk. Vazquez then tied the score with a single.
Wright retired 11 straight batters at one point and didn't allow a hit in innings four through eight.
With one out in the Chicago ninth, Melky Cabrera legged out an infield hit and took second on Vazquez's second passed ball of the game. Todd Frazier walked, but Wright struck out Brett Lawrie (on a 68 mph knuckler) and got Avila to bounce out.
Wright pitched around two errors -- one of them his own on an attempted pickoff at second base -- in the first inning before allowing a run in the second.
Wright gave up only an unearned run through nine innings, lowering his American League-leading ERA to 2.01. The knuckleballer has allowed seven earned runs in his last six starts (five wins), none in three of his last four starts.
Lawrie led off the inning with a double and took third on a flyout. Vazquez failed to hold a knuckleball and the run scored.
Gonzalez retired the first seven hitters before permitting back-to-back singles in the third. A diving play to his left by Frazier at third resulted in a force at second and Gonzalez then got Xander Bogaerts to pop out.
NOTES: Boston LF Rusney Castillo cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket, where the Red Sox hope he can find his missing offensive game. ... Boston LF Brock Holt (concussion) began a rehab in Triple-A on Monday and is expected to be there throughout the week. ... RHP James Shields, who starts for the White Sox in Boston on Thursday, is 0-2 with a 21.81 ERA in his two starts with his new team. General manager Rick Hahn says things need to be worked out soon, but said, "We believe (the problems are) more mechanics ... than the unprecedented evaporation of talent in a premier starter." ... Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz, sent to the bullpen with a 6.35 ERA in May, returns to the rotation after five relief outings when he faces Chicago ace Chris Sale in the second game of the series on Tuesday night. ... The Red Sox promoted Cuban import Yoan Moncada from Class A to Double-A on Monday. He was hitting .307 with 36 stolen bases at Class A Advanced Salem.
