White Sox 10, Indians 3
CLEVELAND -- Chicago scored five runs in the first inning and Chris Sale pitched seven strong innings as the White Sox beat Cleveland 10-3 on Saturday night at Progressive Field, the third consecutive blowout win over the reeling Indians.
In winning the first three games of the series, Chicago (45-50) has outscored Cleveland 24-4 and moved out of last place in the American League Central, ahead of the Indians (45-51).
Sale (9-5) pitched seven innings, giving up two runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco (10-8) only lasted four innings.
Leading 6-1 after five innings, the White Sox pushed their lead to 8-1 with a two-run seventh inning.
With one out, center fielder Adam Eaton reached on an infield single off right-hander Jeff Manship. Right-hander Austin Adams relieved Manship and gave up an infield single to third baseman Tyler Saladino, moving Eaton to second. Eaton then scored on Chicago's third consecutive infield single, a sharp grounder that ricocheted off the glove of diving first baseman Carlos Santana.
One out later, Saladino scored on a single to left field by designated hitter Adam LaRoche to give the White Sox an 8-1 lead.
The Indians scored a run against Sale in the seventh when catcher Yan Gomes doubled and scored on a two-out double by third baseman Giovanny Urshela. In the eighth, shortstop Francisco Lindor doubled against left-hander Zach Duke and scored on a groundout by left fielder Ryan Raburn.
The White Sox continued their assault on Cleveland pitching in the ninth when they scored two more runs on RBI singles by first baseman Jose Abreu and right fielder Avisail Garcia against right-hander Ryan Webb.
Coming into the game, the White Sox had scored a major league-low 27 runs in the first inning, but they batted around and scored five times in the first inning against Carrasco.
Eaton led off the game with a single and Saladino followed with another single. Left fielder Melky Cabrera lined a single to right, scoring Eaton with Chicago's first run.
A passed ball by Gomes moved the runners to second and third. Abreu singled to center, scoring Saladino and Cabrera to make it 3-0.
Carrasco struck out LaRoche for the first out and Garcia reached base on a fielder's choice forceout at second for the second out.
But shortstop Alexei Ramirez kept the rally alive with a double into the left field corner and catcher Tyler Flowers followed with a two-run single to extend the Chicago lead to 5-0.
The White Sox made it 6-0 in the fourth on a solo home run by second baseman Carlos Sanchez, his first major league home run.
Carrasco (10-8) was removed from the game after the fourth inning. He gave up six runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Sale sailed through the first four innings, retiring 12 of 13 batters and holding the Indians scoreless on one hit, a two-out double in the first inning by center fielder Michael Brantley.
Cleveland scored a run in the fifth when Santana doubled and scored on a two-out single by first baseman Jesus Aguilar, cutting Chicago's lead to 6-1.
NOTES: Indians 2B Jason Kipnis was not in the starting lineup Saturday because of a stiff neck. Kipnis had played in 94 of the Indians' first 95 games. Manager Terry Francona said he expected Kipnis to be back in the lineup on Sunday. ... Before the game, the Indians held a ceremony to unveil a statue of Larry Doby outside Progressive Field. Doby was the first African-American to play in the American League when he debuted with the Indians in 1947. Doby was also a manager, coach and player for the White Sox during his career. ... White Sox 1B Jose Abreu, who hit a home run off Indians RHP Corey Kluber on Friday night, has faced eight former Cy Young Award winners during his career and in 96 at-bats has a .323 average with five doubles, 10 home runs and 19 RBIs.