Indians Take 2-of-3 from Sox

In a typical White Sox-Indians series, the Indians won the rubber match on Sunday to continue their winning ways. Ozzie Guillen even had to throw his feelings out there once he thought too many of his batters had been knocked down by Tribe pitchers…and seemingly everyone else’s pitchers.

On Friday, the Indians jumped out to a 4-0 lead, due in part to Kelly Shoppach’s 2-run homer in the 2nd. Chicago answered with two runs in the bottom half of the third on a Gordon Beckham RBI double and a Jim Thome RBI single.

Shoppach hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot to right, giving Cleveland a 5-2 lead. Shoppach later singled in the insurance run in the 6th.

Mark Buehrle continued to struggle after his perfect game while giving up five earned runs and 11 hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Jeremy Sowers (4-7) gave up only two earned runs on six hits and struck out three through seven innings. Chris Perez, Tony Sipp, and Kerry Wood nailed down the game allowing only two baserunners in the final two innings.

D.J. Carrasco (4-1) was too electric in relief for Chicago, as Cleveland blew a 5-1 lead on Saturday. A four-run bottom of the 5th for Chicago was sparked by a two-run blast from Jim Thome and a two-run double by Carlos Quentin. The White Sox added a run in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings for an 8-5 win.

Justin Masterson started for the Indians and pitched four strong innings, giving up four hits and one run, while striking out four.

Tomo Ohka came in to relieve Masterson when the runs started crossing the plate for the Sox, as he only lasted one-third of an inning. Jess Todd gave up the deciding run in relief of Ohka.

In the blistering heat on Sunday, Cleveland outdueled Chicago to move to 18-12 over the last 30 games.

The White Sox scratched three runs off of David Huff (6-6) in the second from an A.J. Pierzynski solo home run to center and RBI singles from Alexei Ramirez and Chris Getz.

The Tribe answered with a four-run 5th. Andy Marte singled home Jhonny Peralta, and a Toregas sac-fly brought in the second Indian run and a new White Sox pitcher. Jamey Carroll proceeded to hit a two-run double giving Cleveland a 4-3 lead, one they would not relinquish.

Carroll capped off his 3-RBI day with a home run to left, a rare display of power on his behalf.

The 8-4 win by Cleveland kept Ozzie Guillen on edge, and Eric Wedge wondering what if the first half of the season hadn’t been so bad.

Jose Contreras moved to 4-11 on the year as he gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings. David Huff (6-6) gave up four runs in 6 1/3, while Tony Sipp, Chris Perez, and Kerry Wood held the Sox scoreless the rest of the way.