Brent Lillibridge atoned for a costly error in the ninth inning by hitting a two-out homer in the 11th as the White Sox opened a critical 10-game road trip with a 10-6 win over the Cleveland Indians, hours after Chicago officially claimed Ramirez off waivers Monday.
Lillibridge entered in the seventh, when second baseman Gordon Beckham left after being hit on the right hand with a pitch. In the ninth, Lillibridge bare-handed a high hopper but threw past first, helping the Indians tie it at 6.
He came up in the 10th with one homer in 58 at-bats and in a 2 for 27 rut before connecting off Rafael Perez (4-1).
Alex Rios homered, drove in four runs and had five of Chicago’s 21 hits as the White Sox won for just the sixth time in 15 games. Scott Linebrink (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the White Sox, who added Ramirez to help get them back to October.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Carlos Pena homered and drove in four runs, Wade Davis won his sixth straight decision.
Pena made it 5-1 with a three-run homer off Brett Cecil (11-7) in the third.
Davis (11-9) allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings. The right-hander has the longest winning streak by a rookie in franchise history. He had shared with Jeff Niemann (2008) and Victor Zambrano (2001).
Chad Qualls replaced Davis with two on and two outs in the eighth and struck out Jose Bautista , who leads the majors with 42 home runs. Aaron Hill hit his 20th homer of the season for the Blue Jays.
In New York, Robinson Cano , Mark Teixeira and the New York Yankees tagged Trevor Cahill for the second time this season, emphatically ending the All-Star’s run of pitching excellence.
Marcus Thames hit a three-run shot to extend his home run streak and New York (81-50) got back-to-back long balls from Teixeira and Cano to move a season-best 31 games over .500. Nick Swisher added three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run double in the first inning that helped the Yankees erase a 3-0 deficit.
Still, they couldn’t shake Tampa Bay atop the AL East. The Yankees and Rays, who beat Toronto 6-2, remained tied for first place for the eighth straight day.
In Kansas City, Missouri, C.J. Wilson allowed two hits over 7 2-3 innings.
Wilson (14-5) improved to 7-0 in nine starts since the All-Star break. It is the most victories in the majors in that span, one ahead of Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano (6-0).
Wilson allowed only a scratch hit to Willie Bloomquist until the eighth inning, when Jai Miller singled to center. The left-hander, who had a complete-game win over the Royals in May, struck out six and walked four.
Neftali Feliz worked the ninth for his 33rd save in 36 opportunities, giving Texas its third win in its last 10 road games in the opener of a 10-game trip.
Kyle Davies (6-9) went 8 1-3 innings, allowing three runs — two earned — on ten hits with six strikeouts and a walk.
In Seattle, Bobby Abreu , Hideki Matsui , and Peter Bourjos all homered in the sixth inning.
Ervin Santana (14-9) allowed two runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings to win for the sixth time in eight decisions.
Kevin Jepsen got the final out in the eighth and Fernando Rodney worked the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 opportunities. It was his first save since June 18.
David Pauley (2-6) gave up all three Angels homers to make it 4-0.
Bourjos’ homer ended a 31-inning scoring drought for the Angels. The club record was 33, set in 1963 and matched in 2004.
