ST. PETERSBURG -- The White Sox scored two unearned runs during an uncharacteristically rough first inning for the Rays on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
And that small output was all Chicago needed in a 9-1 rout of a Tampa Bay team with the best record in the American League. The White Sox (59-52) started the season at 5-15 on the road, but they are now 10-6 in their last 16 away from Rate Field and have a 4-0-1 mark over their last five road series.
In that first inning, Rays second baseman Ryan Vilade mishandled Sam Antonacci’s grounder to start the game. After a two-out double from Colson Montgomery, starting pitcher Griffin Jax couldn’t handle Andrew Benintendi’s grounder back to the mound allowing the first run to score.
With runners on first and third, Benintendi broke for second when the ball got away from catcher Nick Fortes. As Fortes threw through to second, Montgomery easily scored and both runners were safe. The original ruling was a double steal, giving Montgomery a steal of home, but it was changed to a wild pitch.
Benintendi homered and Everson Pereira doubled home two off Craig Kimbrel, who walked two with two outs, to complete the scoring.
Anthony Kay held down the Rays’ offense, as he didn’t allow a run over a career-high 6 1/3 innings. The Rays scored three runs in total over 27 innings, with one coming on a long Junior Caminero home run and one coming on a bloop single in a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
Kay struck out three and walked one.