Manny Ramirez debuts with the White Sox in 6-4 win over the Indians
His bags may still say ‘Dodgers’ on the side, but the presence of the newest member of the Chicago White Sox, Manny Ramirez, was felt Wednesday when the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 6-4 in Cleveland.
The bat of the slugger did not do much; Ramirez had one hit, a single in the seventh inning. However, with Ramirez on deck the Indians had no choice but to pitch to Paul Konerko in the eighth inning with two runners on and the Indians with a two run lead. Konerko connected for home run no. 33 on the season to give the White Sox the lead for good.
The victory is the third in a row since the team picked up Ramirez off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers recently. The wining streak could not come at a better time as the White Sox try to gain ground on the division-leading Minnesota Twins.
“It’s nice, and it’s needed,” Konerko said of the three-game winning streak since Ramirez was acquired. “Minnesota is going to be up there. The only time we can control what they’re going to do is when we play them.”
Chicago had looked like they were on the way to a loss after winning two in a row over the Indians. Starting pitcher Freddy Garcia had to leave after four innings with a stiff back and the Indians got out to a 4-1 lead.
Alexei Ramirez hit a home run in the eighth to close the gap to 4-2 prior to Konerko’s home run that gave the White Sox the lead. Alexei Ramirez added an insurance run in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly that allowed Mark Teahen to score.
With the win the White Sox improved to 73-60 on the season and gave Chicago the sweep of the Indians in the three-game series. Cleveland still leads the season series between the two teams, 8-7, but the two clubs will meet for a three game series at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago to end the regular season.
Chicago will take the day off on Thursday before travelling to Boston for a three game series with the Red Sox. John Danks is scheduled to take the mound for the White Sox in the first game of the series on Friday while Clay Buchholz will take the mound for Boston.
Both teams are trying to hold on to post season hopes that are quickly slipping away with the Red Sox eight games back in the wild card race and the White Sox 8.5 out, and 3.5 games behind the Twins in the AL Central.
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