Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes belted home runs, starting pitcher Zach Eflin broke a personal two-game losing streak and the Tampa Bay Rays handled the Chicago White Sox 5-1 Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Arozarena homered for the second time in three games by launching his sixth blast of the year, a two-run shot, in the third. Paredes, who was 3-for-4, clubbed his team-leading eighth long ball in the sixth.
In a strong start, Eflin (2-4) spun six scoreless innings before yielding a solo homer to Paul DeJong in the seventh. The right-hander allowed six hits while fanning three, all looking, without a walk in seven frames.
Sizzling Jonny DeLuca was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk for Tampa Bay, which moved a game above .500 and stayed perfect on its nine-game homestand with its season-long fifth straight win.
DeJong and Korey Lee had two hits apiece as Chicago managed just six, five for singles.
Plagued by control problems yet again, starter Michael Soroka (0-4) allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits while walking and whiffing four apiece.
For the fifth straight game, the Rays donned their dark City Connect uniforms after winning in them in the first four outings starting Friday.
After going 4-for-4 in Monday’s 8-2 win, Harold Ramirez stayed hot in the duds, stroking an RBI single to plate Paredes in the second. Ben Rortvedt made it 2-0 when he grounded into a double play to bring in Richie Palacios.
After shortstop DeJong committed his fifth error of the season in the third, Arozarena roped Soroka’s hanging slider, lifting the 3-2 offering high to left field. The lofty drive went 363 feet on a 36-degree launch angle.
Unlike Soroka, Eflin pounded the zone with strikes through four innings, using just 48 pitches and facing only 14 batters, two batters over the minimum.
The visitors loaded the bases in the fifth after Rays shortstop Jose Caballero booted a two-out grounder by Nicky Lopez. However, Eflin got Gavin Sheets for the final out, a shallow flyout to right on a 3-0 sinker.
Paredes hammered a 404-foot solo shot to left center in the sixth, but DeJong broke the ice for the White Sox with a solo drive, his fourth, to make it 5-1 in the seventh.
Relievers Phil Maton and Manuel Rodriguez tossed scoreless innings as the Rays neatly put away the White Sox and secured the series win.
–Field Level Media
