Four-run 11th gets White Sox past Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

08/30/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brent Lillibridge hit the tie-breaking home run in a four-run top of the 11th as Chicago coughed up a late lead only to come back to beat Cleveland, 10-6, to begin a three-game series.

Lillibridge, filling in for the injured Gordon Beckham, who left the game in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch on the right hand, lofted his long ball just over the high wall in left field to help the White Sox move to within four games of idle Minnesota in the AL Central.

Alex Rios went 5-for-6 with a homer and four RBI and missed hitting for the cycle by a triple while Paul Konerko went 2-for-4 with three RBI and three walks for Chicago, which won for just a third time in its last nine road contests.

Scott Linebrink (2-1) earned the win with two scoreless relief innings.

Rafael Perez (4-1) took the loss after allowing the decisive runs on four hits and a walk in less than a full inning of work for the Tribe, who dropped a second straight after a three-game win streak.

The southpaw retired the first two hitters in the 11th before Lillibridge poked his first home run since June 9 to put the visitors ahead to stay.

Juan Pierre walked and scored when Omar Vizquel doubled to right. The veteran infielder then stole third and crossed the plate when Rios doubled to center to match a career-best with his fifth hit of the night. Konerko then singled to center to score Rios to push the lead to four and knock Perez out of the game.

The hosts rallied for three runs off closer Bobby Jenks, who suffered his fourth blown save, to tie the game in the home ninth.

Shin-Soo Choo walked to start the inning, moved up on defensive indifference and scored when Shelley Duncan looped a single to left to make it 6-4. Travis Hafner then sliced his third double of the night to left to push Duncan to third base. Luis Valbuena, who replaced Laynce Nix after his seventh inning ejection for arguing balls and strikes, chopped a grounder to second base that Lillibridge barehanded and threw wildly past first as both runners scored to tie the game.

Valbuena also advanced to second then moved to third on a ground out by Jason Donald but was stranded when pinch-hitter Trevor Crowe bounced out to end the frame.

Chris Perez worked out of two jams in the tenth by getting Rios to ground into a double play with runners at first and second and nobody out and A.J. Pierzynski to fly out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Cleveland trailed 5-0 but got back in the game in the home fourth when Hafner doubled and scored when Nix followed with a home run to left.

The Indians crept within two in the fifth when Asdrubal Cabrera led off with an infield hit, moved to second on a one-out single by Duncan and scored on Hafner's second two-base hit of the game. The Indians had the sacks full with two outs but Donald fanned to end the frame.

Indians starter Mitch Talbot was roughed up for five runs on 10 hits and three walks while striking out two and was followed to the hill by Justin Germano, who retired the first two batters in the sixth before Rios crushed a solo home run to left-center to extend the visitors' lead to 6-3. It was the first earned run allowed by the right-hander in 17 1/3 innings this season since his return to the big leagues on July 30.

Vizquel and Rios put together consecutive one-out singles in the first in front of Konerko, who doubled to drive in both runners.

Two singles and a walk with two outs loaded the bases for the Tribe in the bottom of the frame but Sox starter Mark Buehrle worked out of trouble by getting Nix to foul out.

Alexei Ramirez singled to start the second and scored when Mark Kotsay doubled down the right-field line. Beckham followed with a single to get Kotsay to third before Pierre was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

After Vizquel fouled out, Rios looped a two-run single to right to push the lead to 5-0.

Buerhle lasted six innings during which he allowed three runs on eight hits and a trio of walks along with five strikeouts.

Game Notes

The White Sox were awarded outfielder Manny Ramirez from the Los Angeles Dodgers on a waiver claim Monday and he is expected to join the team Tuesday. Beckham left the game in the seventh inning after getting hit in the right hand by a Frank Herrmann pitch...Konerko played in his 1,743rd game for the White Sox to tie his manager Guillen for fifth place on the franchise's all- time list...He has hit safely in 11 straight...Vizquel went 2-for-6 and has 820 career hits at Progressive Field, the most of any player...Rios had his third career five-hit game...Talbot had won each of his first three turns over Chicago this season...Indians' first baseman Matt LaPorta sat out the game with a strained left hip that he re-injured while batting in the fourth inning of Sunday's game...He had surgery on the same hip in October...Cleveland has lost 15 of its last 22 home games.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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