The Chicago White Sox opened a six-game road trip by using their muscle to pummel the Tampa Bay Rays in a matchup of first-place clubs Friday.
The American League Central leaders will try to keep flexing those muscles when they meet the Rays again Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Chicago won its third straight game with a four-homer night in a week in which the surprising club notched consecutive walk-offs to split a four-game set with the New York Yankees.
It was all about the power Friday as Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi and Munetaka Murakami hit a long ball each in the first three innings. Colson Montgomery slugged a two-run homer in the sixth as all seven runs in the 6-1 win crossed home on long balls.
Vargas (433 feet), Benintendi (405) and Montgomery (425) all eclipsed the 400-foot mark, and the latter two batters clanged their blasts off the catwalk well beyond the right field fence.
Batting .240, Vargas crushed his 23rd homer but said he had felt unlucky at the plate lately.
“When you get a result, it helps you a lot,” said the third baseman of the first-inning blast. “I try to do my thing, getting good at-bats, swinging at strikes and control what I can.”
Murakami extended his on-base streak to 17 games with a two-hit night.
The Cleveland Guardians’ loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks extended Chicago’s division lead to three games.
Jordan Hicks (1-1, 3.19 ERA) will serve as an opener for Noah Schultz (3-7, 6.15) Saturday. The rookie southpaw will try to improve on his 1-3 mark and 6.75 ERA in July.
Schultz dropped an 8-5 decision to Tampa Bay on April 14 in his MLB debut, allowing three earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
As expected, the Rays placed left-hander Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list with left mid-back tightness. He was removed in the fourth inning from Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
It’s a move that likely means the two-time All-Star will miss at least two starts, likely ramping up the organization’s efforts to add pitching as the Monday trade deadline approaches.
If all goes as the team hopes, the local product from the University of South Florida could return to the mound when Tampa Bay hosts the Baltimore Orioles in a four-game series that starts on Aug. 14.
McClanahan, who is 9-6 with a 3.09 ERA in 20 starts, said he has battled tightness through the season.
“(It) was just a little bit more prevalent, and I couldn’t shake it,” he said on Thursday.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander said the team already was looking at bringing in more pitching, which is likely to intensify over the weekend.
The Rays had scouts at Single-A Dunedin on Tuesday to watch the St. Lucie Mets. Clay Holmes started for the visitors on a rehab assignment from a fractured fibula suffered on May 15. Holmes threw four shutout innings, giving up two hits, walking two and striking out three.
The Rays also reportedly are in the running for the Detroit Tigers ace left-hander, Tarik Skubal, and New York Mets right-hander Freddy Peralta.
The Rays filled the IL spot by calling up pitcher Triple-A Durham Bulls pitcher Alex Cook, who tossed two scoreless innings in his big-league debut on Friday.
Drew Rasmussen (9-5, 3.07) will start the matinee game. The right-hander was 2-1 with a 6.05 ERA in four starts last month.
In four career starts against Chicago, he is 0-1 with a 3.43 ERA and a .260 batting average against.
–Field Level Media
