Dylan Cease, White Sox blank host Rangers
Luis Robert went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, Dylan Cease struck out 10 batters over five scoreless innings, and the Chicago White Sox cruised to an 8-0 win over the host Texas Rangers on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Jose Abreu added a double and two RBIs for Chicago (84-63), which snapped a two-game skid. Romy Gonzalez, Eloy Jimenez and Cesar Hernandez also drove in one run apiece.
Leody Taveras went 2-for-5 and swiped a base for Texas (54-93), which has lost three in a row and four of five. The Rangers did not record an extra-base hit.
Cease (12-7) kept Rangers hitters off balance throughout most of the night. He scattered four hits and walked two in addition to notching double-digit strikeouts. He threw 63 of 92 pitches for strikes.
Texas left-hander Taylor Hearn (6-5) surrendered seven runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.
White Sox relief pitchers Aaron Bummer, Ryan Burr, Jose Ruiz and Jace Fry worked one scoreless inning apiece to preserve the shutout.
The White Sox opened the scoring in the top of the first. Tim Anderson hit a leadoff double, advanced to third base on a single by Robert and came home on a sacrifice fly by Abreu.
One inning later, Gonzalez hit an RBI double to deep left field to drive in Yoan Moncada and make it 2-0 in favor of the White Sox.
A five-run fourth inning propelled Chicago to a 7-0 lead. Robert started the outburst with a bases-loaded double to deep right-center field that drove in all three runners. Abreu followed with an RBI double to center, and Jimenez capped the inning with a run-scoring single to left.
Hernandez added an RBI double in the seventh to increase Chicago's lead to 8-0. Gonzalez scored from first on the play, sliding safely across the plate just ahead of the catcher's tag.
--Field Level Media