Sox beat Jays in Guillen's last game as manager
Associated Press
In what turned out to be manager Ozzie Guillen's last game with the White Sox, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer, rookie Dylan Axelrod threw six shutout innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Monday night.
Guillen met with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf on Monday. Before the game, Guillen said that he had repeated his request for a contract extension and expected Reinsdorf to take a couple of days to make a decision about his future. After the game, the club announced that Guillen had been released from his contract.
Axelrod (1-0) won his first big-league game, striking out six and holding Toronto to three hits.
Sergio Santos got the last three outs to become the eighth White Sox pitcher to record 30 saves, picking up his first since Sept. 6. He allowed a two-run double to David Cooper in the ninth and walked Marcus Thames and Jose Bautista, but struck out Adam Lind with the bases loaded to end the game on his 44th pitch of the inning.
Flowers made a rare start at first base and hit his fourth homer with two on in the second. Dayan Viciedo roped an RBI double in the seventh and A.J. Pierzynski added two singles for Chicago.
Toronto's Dustin McGowan (0-2) allowed four hits and three runs in four innings, leaving after throwing 73 pitches. McGowan has been limited to a strict pitch count as he works his way back from two shoulder surgeries.
Adam Lind drove in Toronto's only run with on a groundout in the eighth. Mike McCoy stole two bases and scored a run. Mark Teahen reached base three time in his first game against his former club.
The White Sox won for just the seventh time in their last 28 games against the Blue Jays. Toronto needs to win the last two games of the series to finish the season with a winning record for the fifth time in six years.
Axelrod pitched out of jam in the fifth, getting Mike McCoy on a foul pop and striking out Thames with runners on second and third.
Blue Jays manager John Farrell missed the game while attending to a family matter. He is expected to manage on Tuesday. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu served as acting manager for the series opener.
Adam Dunn went 0 for 2 with two walks and two strikeouts, dropping his average to .160 with 174 strikeouts. Dunn needs nine plate appearances in the final two games to finish with the worst qualifying batting average in big league history, surpassing Rob Deer's .179 mark in 1991.
Dunn is 1 for 16 with 10 strikeouts against Toronto this season.
NOTES: In the last series of the season, the Blue Jays are making their only trip to Chicago in the 2011 season. Chicago and Toronto haven't played each other since May 29 and hadn't met in Chicago since May 9, 2010. Colby Rasmus (flu-like symptoms) and Adam Lind (birth of his child) both returned the Toronto lineup. Bautista went 0 for 3 with three walks after leaving Sunday's game early because of a knee injury suffered chasing after a fly ball. Bautista leads the Yankees' Curtis Granderson by two home runs in his bid to become the first player to lead the big leagues in homers in consecutive seasons since Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999. The Blue Jays will send Henderson Alvarez to the mound on Tuesday to face Chicago's Mark Buehrle, who could be making his last start for the White Sox. Buehrle will be a free agent after the season.