Associated Press Sports
updated 7:01 p.m. ET June 24, 2012
CHICAGO (AP) - A walk-off win, a nice spot in the standings and a new All-Star third basemen. It was a good day for the Chicago White Sox.
Pinch hitter Eduardo Escobar lined an RBI single in the 10th inning and the White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 Sunday.
The victory moved the White Sox past Cleveland into the AL Central lead. Chicago also announced it had acquired infielder Kevin Youkilis and cash from Boston in a trade for infielder Brent Lillibridge and right-handed pitcher Zach Stewart.
Alejandro De Aza opened the White Sox 10th with a double off Manny Parra (0-2). Adam Dunn walked with one out and with Lillibridge due up Chicago needed a pinch-hitter. They turned to Escobar.
"You practice hard for that opportunity and once they called me in, I'm really happy that we were able to win," Escobar said through a translator.
White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said the Youkilis deal came together in the last 24 hours.
"I just got off the phone with him, he's very excited to join our club and he's got a little edge to him that I like," Williams said. "I can't tell you exactly what he said, but he wants to come in and prove some people wrong."
Youkilis is hitting just .233 this year with four homers and 14 RBIs, but is a career .287 hitter and a three-time all-star.
"I think it's good for him. A good change of scenery, I'm sure," White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said.
For the second time in the three-game series, the White Sox and Brewers were scoreless after nine innings. Chicago got another brilliant outing from rookie left-hander Jose Quintana, whose father flew to Chicago from Colombia for the game.
Quintana allowed six hits in eight innings, walking none and striking out four.
"Really happy to have him out there," Quintana said through a translator. "It gave me more confidence and it's something that knowing he's there made me want to do the best I could even more."
Quintana's consecutive scoreless innings streak reached 16. He's now faced 97 consecutive batters without issuing a walk, the longest active streak in baseball.
Mike Fiers gave up five hits in 7 1-3 innings for the Brewers.
"It's OK. I've got to do my job and the runs we score is what we score," Fiers said. "If I get a loss, it doesn't matter to me. It's putting zeros up on the board and keeping my team in the game and getting a good result."
Brian Bruney (1-0) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.
Despite the lack of scoring, the Brewers and White Sox each had chances.
Chicago executed an alert defensive play in the third when leadoff batter Norichika Aoki attempted to stretch a two-out double into a triple. Right fielder Alex Rios threw to second baseman Gordon Beckham, who made a nice relay to third baseman Orlando Hudson for the tag.
Hudson and Beckham both singled in the bottom of the third, but Dunn grounded out.
In the Brewers' fourth, Aramis Ramirez hit a two-out double and Corey Hart hit a drive to right field that a leaping Rios caught at the wall.
Chicago threatened in the sixth when Beckham singled, stole second and reached third on Dunn's deep fly. Konerko struck out swinging to end the inning.
Fiers was pulled in the eighth with White Sox runners at second and third with one out. Reliever Francisco Rodriguez struck out Beckham and Dunn.
The Brewers had runners on first and second in the ninth but Addison Reed got a strikeout and pinch-runner Nyjer Morgan was caught trying to steal third base. The White Sox loaded the bases in the bottom half but Jose Veras got Hudson to pop out.
Bruney walked two in the 10th but coaxed an infield popup by Carlos Gomez to end the inning.
NOTES: The White Sox ended 9-9 in interleague play while the Brewers closed at 6-12. ... The White Sox saluted the 40th anniversary of their 1972 AL West runner-up team in a pregame ceremony. That team went 87-67 and Dick Allen, the AL MVP, threw out the first pitch. ... It's been a frustrating run for manager Ron Roenicke and the Brewers, who haven't been above .500 since April. "Things just aren't clicking for us," he said. "Everything's just a little bit off."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
advertisement
More newsGetty ImagesRed Sox?are a?real mess
HBT: Boston lacks direction as a franchise, which is how the club ends up paying someone to take Kevin Youkilis off its hands and gets question marks in return.
nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome hoya
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.