ARLINGTON, Texas – The White Sox survived a shaky night by the bullpen on Monday. They couldn’t survive an even worse effort Tuesday.
The Texas Rangers rallied for seven runs in the eighth inning against Scott Carroll, Zach Duke and Matt Albers to stick the Sox with a 13-11 loss that snapped a four-game winning streak.
Ryan Rua’s three-run homer against Albers was the game-winner, after Carroll had filled the bases to open the eighth in relief of Carlos Rodon.
“We’ve been going good but it still hurts, man,” Albers aid. “It doesn’t make it any easier. It’s tough. It does thappen, but that one hurts.”
The bullpen was 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA going into the game, and the Sox were 20-0 when leading after the seventh inning.
“That’s going to happen in a long season,” manager Robin Ventura said. “As far as faith in these guys going forward, we have all that for them. Tonight is just a tough night.”
The Sox fell to 23-11, still owning the best record in the American League.
Rodon labored once again, allowing six runs on a season-high 12 hits and sitting through a one hour, 18 minute rain delay between the second and third innings – no easy task having to warm up a second time — and tossed 107 pitches to get through 6 2/3 innings.
Ventura said Rodon looked better as the game went along. He posted zeros in the fourth and fifth innings after the Sox had taken a 10-5 lead.
“Velocity wise, even late in the game, he had it,” Ventura said.
Avisail Garcia’s three-run double extended his hitting streak to a career high 11 games, and helped the Sox build a 10-5 lead in the fourth. Jimmy Rollins was 3-for-4, Todd Frazier drove in three runs and Brett Lawrie and Melky Cabrera had two hits and two RBI each for the Sox. Frazier has nine RBI in the first two games of the series and a team high 30.
Garcia’s double was the only hit of the Sox’ fourth against Anthony Ranaudo, who walked five batters before Garcia delivered.
The Rangers loaded the bases against Carroll in the eighth. Albers, relieving Duke, gave up a sacrifice fly to Adrian Beltre and a triple by Ian Desmond that cleared the outstretched glove of center fielder Austin Jackson. After a semi-intentional walk to Prince Fielder, Rua connected for the home run to center.
“I didn’t make a good pitch to Desmond, tried to throw a slider down and away and it backed up on me over the plate,” Albers said. “To Rua, I got him 1-2 and was beating him in, tried to go away and the ball just leaked right back over the middle.”
Mat Latos opposes the Rangers’ Cole Hamels Wednesday afternoon in the rubber game of the series.
