| Scoreboard | ||||||||||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chi. White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| Texas « | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Alfonso Soriano hit two home runs, then gave credit to his teammates.
Michael Young and Mark Teixeira also homered, and rookie Chris Young pitched eight strong innings as the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-2 on Friday night for their season-high seventh straight victory.
The Rangers have hit 21 homers during their winning streak, which is the longest active run in the majors.
"The whole team is working together," Soriano said. "The pitching, defense and offense have been great. Chris Young was very good tonight."
Texas swept consecutive three-game series against last-place teams Houston and Kansas City, but the White Sox presented a more formidable test with the best record in the majors.
"We probably caught them at the right time," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "It's nice to get off to a good start against a good club."
Young (5-2) allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and didn't issue a walk to beat rookie Brandon McCarthy (0-1).
Young's fastball was clocked as high as 94 mph and he credited catcher Rod Barajas for calling a good game.
"I had a good fastball and that was the key for me," said Young, 3-0 with a 1.14 ERA in his last five starts. "I was able to use my off-speed pitches off my fastball. Rod called a great game. That makes it easy for me."
Young took a shutout into the seventh but Paul Konerko's leadoff homer ended the bid.
Young began the season with a tenuous hold on a rotation spot, but he's solidified his position by going eight innings in three starts this season.
"He's a guy with a lot of determination, grit and want-to," Showalter said. "It makes it easy to trust him. That's pretty impressive."
Willie Harris had an RBI single in the ninth off Texas reliever Doug Brocail to make it 6-2 before Francisco Cordero relieved with runners on first and second.
He got pinch-hitter Timo Perez to fly to left for his 16th save. Left fielder Kevin Mench made a sliding catch to end the game.
McCarthy, who gave up six hits -- four homers -- and six runs over five innings, was making his second major-league start in place of Orlando Hernandez, out with a right shoulder injury.
The White Sox optioned McCarthy to Triple-A Charlotte following the game.
Teixeira's 12th homer in the first gave Texas a 1-0 lead, and Soriano made it 2-0 in the second.
Young's sixth homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, and Soriano's two-run homer later in the fifth, his 14th, stretched the Rangers' advantage to 6-0.
Chicago's offense continues to sputter and the White Sox appeared to be tired. The team arrived at its hotel in Texas at 4:30 a.m. on Friday after a redeye flight from Anaheim.
Four members of the White Sox lineup are in deep slumps: Juan Uribe (4-for-45), Carl Everett (3-for-34), A.J. Pierzynski (2-for-17) and Jermaine Dye (1-for-17).
"We looked like a dead man walking," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Young threw the ball pretty well but you can't take anything away from him. We can make excuses that we were tired but we didn't swing the bats good."
|
| Alfonso Soriano heads for home; Brandon McCarthy, on the other hand, is heading to Triple-A. (AP) |
| Players of the Game |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nike Rangers Legend Issue Performance T-Shirt - Gray Shop Now!
| Chicago White Sox | ||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Scott Podsednik, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .282 |
| Juan Uribe, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .231 |
| Carl Everett, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .232 |
| Paul Konerko, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .237 |
| A.J. Pierzynski, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .263 |
| Jermaine Dye, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .213 |
| Aaron Rowand, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .262 |
| Willie Harris, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .292 |
| Pablo Ozuna, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .263 |
| a- Timo Perez, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .185 |
| Totals | 36 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 12 | |
| a-fouled out for Ozuna in the 9th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Jermaine Dye (8, C. Young) | ||||||||
| HR - Paul Konerko (13, C. Young) | ||||||||
| RBI - Paul Konerko (37), Willie Harris (3) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Willie Harris (2) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 7 | ||||||||
| Chicago White Sox | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Brandon McCarthy (L,0-1) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6.97 |
| Luis Vizcaino | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.46 |
| Kevin Walker | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Shingo Takatsu | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.73 |
| Pitches-Strikes - Brandon McCarthy 94-59, Luis Vizcaino 15-8, Kevin Walker 19-10, Shingo Takatsu 18-8 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Brandon McCarthy 2-9, Luis Vizcaino 2-1, Kevin Walker 2-0 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Brandon McCarthy 24, Luis Vizcaino 5, Kevin Walker 5, Shingo Takatsu 5 | ||||||||
| Texas Rangers | ||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| David Dellucci, DH | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .274 |
| Michael Young, SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .277 |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .283 |
| Hank Blalock, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
| Alfonso Soriano, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .278 |
| Kevin Mench, LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .300 |
| Laynce Nix, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .278 |
| Richard Hidalgo, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .232 |
| Rod Barajas, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .221 |
| Totals | 33 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 21 | |
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Laynce Nix (6, Vizcaino) | ||||||||
| HR - Michael Young (6, McCarthy), Mark Teixeira (12, McCarthy), Alfonso Soriano 2 (14, McCarthy, McCarthy) | ||||||||
| RBI - Michael Young 2 (28), Mark Teixeira (31), Alfonso Soriano 3 (32) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Mark Teixeira (18), Alfonso Soriano 2 (9) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 9 | ||||||||
| Texas Rangers | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Chris Young (W,5-2) | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2.93 |
| Doug Brocail | 0.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.43 |
| Francisco Cordero (S,16) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 |
| Pitches-Strikes - Chris Young 102-71, Doug Brocail 18-12, Francisco Cordero 1-1 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Chris Young 12-7 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Chris Young 30, Doug Brocail 5, Francisco Cordero 1 | ||||||||
| Game Information |
| Attendance - 31149 |
| Game Time - 2:30 |
| Temperature - 82 |
| Umpires - Home - Ron Kulpa, First Base - James Hoye, Second Base - Dale Scott, Third Base - Dan Iassogna |
| Other Games | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||