White Sox rally to beat Indians 6-5
CLEVELAND - The White Sox got back to just playing baseball on Wednesday, and it paid off.
Looking equally distracted and sloppy on Tuesday while losing to the Indians 8-2, the Sox seemed to be in for more of the same in the series finale at Progressive Field.
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Consecutive singles by leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore and Jamey Carroll in the first inning put Gavin Floyd in early trouble, and the Sox' starting pitcher got into a bigger mess when he made a throwing error on Ben Francisco's groundball.
"The first two innings in the last two games have been kind of ugly," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
The Sox couldn't overcome Cleveland's 5-run first on Tuesday, but they did erase the Indians' early 2-run edge Wednesday while bouncing back with a 6-5 win.
"It was kind of a back-and-forth game," said left fielder Carlos Quentin, who put the White Sox in front for good with a 2-run double in the seventh inning off Rafael Betancourt. "Gavin settled down and I think he pitched well. And the offense stayed at it and a lot of guys got big hits."
Had they lost a second straight game to the Indians, the Sox would have been asked if the rampaging controversy surrounding shortstop Orlando Cabrera was sapping their focus.
Instead, they headed out of Cleveland with their fifth win in six games over the Indians in the last week.
"That shows the character of this ballclub," Guillen said. "It was a big win for us. We fought all the way back. Five wins over Cleveland in one week. To win the division, you have to win games against the division."
Floyd wound up winning his fifth game of the season, which is a career high.
"I felt great going into the first inning," Floyd said. "Things just weren't going my way. But I felt great and I just tried to keep that attitude and wait for us to come back."
Jermaine Dye's solo home run off Indians starter Jake Westbrook put the Sox on the board in the fourth inning, and they took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on A.J. Pierzynski's RBI groundout and Quentin's sacrifice fly.
Floyd couldn't hold the lead, allowing 3 runs in the sixth inning, but the White Sox answered right back with 3 runs in the seventh.
"Hard-nosed, tough at-bats," Quentin said. "(The Indians) are a quality team, and we've had some good games against them. Fortunately, we've been able to come out on top."
Cleveland made it interesting in the ninth inning, when leadoff hitter Ryan Garko reached first base on Joe Crede's fielding error and Grady Sizemore walked against closer Bobby Jenks.
After Carroll's sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, Francisco popped out on the first pitch and Victor Martinez popped out to Cabrera to end the game.
"It was one of those days where it didn't matter how you got it done, just get the third out," Jenks said. "It was a really good team win. From the first inning on, it was a battle. As a team, this is where we want to be."
White Sox 6, Indians 5
At the plate: Carlos Quentin was 1-for-4 and drove in 3 runs. He leads the Sox with 47 RBI. Jermaine Dye was 2-for-4 with a solo home run.
On the mound: Starter Gavin Floyd pitched 6 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits. Bobby Jenks earned the save, his 101st with the White Sox. Jenks moved past Keith Foulke and now ranks third in franchise history.
In the field: Joe Crede made his 10th error of the season in the ninth inning. In the eighth, Crede dove to right and caught a line drive off the bat of Jhonny Peralta.