Unusual Suspects Lead Sox Past Cubs
/It's unclear if Moises Sierra, Gordon Beckham and/or Hector Noesi made some sort of deal with the devil prior to Tuesday's game, but the trio proved up to the task of delivering the White Sox their third straight victory, a 5-1 showing against the Chicago Cubs.
Noesi, in an effort sure to aid the "Coop will fix 'em" cheers, allowed just four hits and a single run in five innings of work, striking out six. The game was locked at 1-1 when he exited and the White Sox had trouble getting anything together against former Southsider Edwin Jackson through seven innings.
As luck would have it, seven innings was Jackson's limit on Tuesday and when he exited, the White Sox's offense came to life. Beckham broke the tie in the 8th inning with a solo shot — his first of the season and fourth hit of the night — off Neil Ramirez.
The lead was extended in the ninth when Pedro Strop walked Alexei Ramirez to lead off the inning, Moises Sierra recorded HIS fourth hit of the night on an infield single to third, and Tyler Flowers brought home Ramirez on an RBI double — his fourth extra-base hit of the season. Jordan Danks — following in the line of unlikely heros — came through with a two-run double of his own to cap the scoring on the evening.
Prior to the last two innings, the White Sox's offense could get little going against Jackson in what was easily the veteran's best outing of the season. The Sox's lone tally off him came in the fourth when Beckham singled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and Jose Abreu sacrifice fly, and came home when Ramirez beat out a potential double play ball.
Base running miscues added to the woes, however, as Jackson picked off both Beckham and Sierra on different occasions, the latter of which came on a curious play when Sierra had a base runner ahead of him at second, and also neglected to slide when attempting to beat the throw back to first.
Noesi, however, matched Jackson as far as scoring output is concerned. The Cubs' only run came in the fifth when Junior Lake singled, stole second and came home on an Emilio Bonifacio single.
Robin Ventura didn't figure to press his luck with Noesi beyond the fifth and turned to his bullpen, which did as it has been known to do of late. Zach Putnam, Scott Downs and Daniel Webb combined to allow just two base runners — both walks — over the next four innings to secure the victory.
Team Record: 17-17
Next game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT at U.S. Cellular Field. The game can be seen locally on WCIU and nationally on ESPN.
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