Recap: Chicago WSox vs. Cleveland
Sports Network | September 27, 2008
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Ryan Garko hit two homers -- including a grand slam -- to give the Cleveland Indians an 11-8 victory over the Chicago White Sox, denying the Sox a chance to regain first place in the AL Central.
With the loss, Chicago remains a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins, who swept the White Sox earlier in the week but lost to the Royals Friday night. If the margin in the division is 1/2 after Sunday, Chicago will play a make-up game at home against Detroit on Monday.
Garko finished the game 3-for-4 while Ben Francisco also homered for the Indians, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Scott Lewis (4-0) earned the win despite a poor outing, allowing six runs -- four earned -- on six hits in five innings. Jensen Lewis earned his 13th save of the season after getting the last four outs of the game.
John Danks (11-9) struggled, surrendering seven runs on seven hits in four- plus innings to receive the loss.
Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski each homered and drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox, who have now lost seven of nine.
The Indians clawed back in the fourth, as Garko led off the inning with his 13th home run of the year, making it 4-3. In the fifth, Cleveland loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a walk, and Shin-Soo Choo hit a two- run single to drive Danks out of the game.
D.J. Carrasco came on in relief, and he subsequently walked Jhonny Peralta to re-load the bases. Garko followed by hitting his second home run of the game -- a grand slam -- that put the Indians in a comfortable 9-4 position.
Jermaine Dye made it a 9-6 six game in the home fifth with a two-run homer off Scott Lewis. However, Franklin Gutierrez drew a bases-loaded walk for Cleveland in the sixth, and Asdrubal Cabrera scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to restore the five-run cushion for the Indians.
In the seventh Orlando Cabrera and Dye singled for Chicago to put two runners on with one out. With two outs, Rafael Betancourt came in to face Konerko, who hit an RBI double. With runners on second and third, Alexei Ramirez was unable to produce, grounding out to end the threat. A Dewayne Wise RBI single in the eighth for the White Sox capped the scoring at 11-8.
Francisco gave the Indians an early 1-0 lead, hitting a one-out homer in the first off Danks.
Josh Barfield singled for Cleveland with two outs in the second, scoring Gutierrez, who managed to sneak under the tag of Pierzynski for a 2-0 advantage.
Konerko started the White Sox's second with his 29th career homer against Cleveland, cutting the Indians' lead to one. Two batters later, after Ramirez reached on an error, Pierzynski hit another homer to put Chicago up by a run.
In the same inning, Nick Swisher got on base thanks to Asdrubal Cabrera's second error of the inning. After Juan Uribe worked a walk, Orlando Cabrera sacrificed the runners into scoring position and Brian Anderson plated Swisher with a groundout.
Despite the loss, the White Sox lead the season series 10-6...Indians ace and Cy Young hopeful Cliff Lee is questionable for his scheduled start on Sunday due to a stiff neck. The team will make a decision concerning his status on Saturday...Chicago dropped to 26-7 at home against divisional opponents...The win was Cleveland's first in Chicago this year (1-6)...Indians' batters were hit by a pitch twice in the game, raising their single-season major-league record to 103...Garko's grand slam was the first for his career, and he also had his first career multi-homer game.
