Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn combined for four doubles and three RBIs as the Chicago White Sox held on to defeat the host Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Burger and Vaughn each had two doubles, while Burger knocked in two runs and Vaughn one. Vaughn finished 3-for-5 to raise his batting average to .298 for the White Sox, who had 16 hits. Left fielder AJ Pollock was the only Chicago starter without a hit.
The White Sox scored four runs in the first inning and two in the second to take a 6-0 lead and chase Tampa Bay starter Ryan Yarbrough (0-3) after 1 2/3 innings. Yarbrough gave up eight hits while walking two. He did not record a strikeout.
Burger continued his hot streak after hitting a two-run, pinch-hit home run in Saturday’s 3-2 victory. With Burger and Vaughn helping to ease the offensive absence of All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson, who is out with a groin injury, the Wite Sox won their second straight game after losing four in a row.
Chicago starter Lucas Giolito (4-2) cruised into the fifth inning with the 6-0 lead but allowed a leadoff solo 410-foot home run to Isaac Paredes.
The Rays crawled back to within a run in the sixth. Yandy Diaz opened with an infield single, and Ji-Man Choi reached base when Yasmani Grandal, playing first, couldn’t handle a throw from shortstop Danny Mendick. Grandal was charged with an error.
A Harold Ramirez sacrifice fly drove in Diaz, and Randy Arozarena followed with an RBI triple to score him. Mike Zunino hit a two-out, two-run homer that traveled 364 feet to make the score 6-5.
Giolito was charged with all five runs, two earned. Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect ninth to post his 16th save of the year. He had one strikeout.
Yandy Diaz had two hits for Tampa Bay.
The White Sox next will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series starting Tuesday night. The Rays will host the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game set starting the same night.
–Field Level Media