Rays 6, White Sox 2: David Price tossed seven solid innings to record his 20th victory and B.J. Upton homered twice as visiting Tampa Bay kept its slim postseason hopes alive.
Ryan Roberts had a solo shot and Evan Longoria added an RBI double for the Rays, who won three of four versus Chicago and 10 of 11 overall. Tampa Bay remained three games behind Oakland for the second wild card, with the Athletics defeating Seattle on Sunday.
Alex Rios continued his solid series with an RBI single for the White Sox, who fell for the 10th time in 12 outings to drop three games behind Detroit in the American League Central. The Tigers posted a 2-1 triumph over Minnesota on Sunday.
Tampa Bay got out of the blocks in a hurry as Desmond Jennings tripled before Upton deposited a first-inning offering from rookie Jose Quintana (6-6) into the seats in left field. Upton added his fifth homer in 10 games and 28th on the season with a solo shot in the ninth.
Price (20-5) recorded his fourth straight win after allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings. He joined Los Angeles' Jered Weaver as the lone American League pitchers with 20 victories.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rays were aware that they were competing solely for the second wild card as New York and Baltimore both emerged victorious earlier in the day. ... White Sox leadoff hitter Alejandro De Aza missed his second consecutive games with flu-like symptoms. ... Tampa Bay C Jose Molina sat out his fifth straight game due to a strained right quad.
Tampa Bay | Chi. White Sox | |
David Price | Player | Jose Quintana |
Win | W/L | Loss |
7.0 | IP | 4.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 3 |
5 | Hits | 6 |
2.57 | ERA | 9.00 |
Tampa Bay | Chi. White Sox | |
Melvin Upton Jr. | Player | Paul Konerko |
3 | Hits | 2 |
3 | RBI | 0 |
2 | HR | 0 |
10 | TB | 2 |
.600 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Tampa Bay | 9 | 3 | 22 | .273 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Chi. White Sox | 5 | 0 | 5 | .172 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |