Rays 8, White Sox 3
Jose Molina and Kelly Johnson belted back-to-back homers in a five-run second inning and Jeremy Hellickson won his fourth straight start as Tampa Bay rolled over visiting Chicago.
Molina and Wil Myers each knocked in a pair of runs while Luke Scott and Desmond Jennings had three hits apiece for the Rays, who have won six of their last seven. Hellickson (8-3) allowed one run, six hits and did not walk a batter while striking out nine over seven innings.
Catcher Josh Phegley was 1-for-3 with two RBIs in his major-league debut and Gordon Beckham had two hits and an RBI for the White Sox. Chicago starter Dylan Axelrod (3-5) yielded five runs on nine hits over 1 2/3 innings – his shortest outing of the season.
The Rays sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning en route to a 5-0 lead, ignited by Molina's two-run blast into the left-field seats. Johnson belted a solo shot to right field three pitches later while Evan Longoria added an RBI single and Myers tacked on a run-scoring double.
Myers’ sacrifice fly and Scott's two-out RBI single pushed the lead to 7-0 in the fourth. Hellickson, who struck out White Sox slugger Adam Dunn three times, kept Chicago off the scoresheet until yielding Phegley’s RBI single in the fifth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay 1B James Loney had two singles to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games. … OF Blake Tekotte and Phegley were recalled by the White Sox from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday and C Hector Gimenez was designated for assignment. Chicago also optioned OF Jordan Danks to Charlotte after Thursday’s game. … Myers has a hit in 15 of his first 18 games in the majors.