Angels 7, White Sox 5
CHICAGO -- The Los Angeles and Chicago White Sox found themselves in similar situations on Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Off to frustrating starts, both came into a three-game weekend series hoping to spark a hot streak by winning for a second straight time. The Angels got the job done with a 7-5 victory backed by an offensive outburst that featured 11 hits.
After blowing a four-run lead in the fourth inning, the Angels (13-22) surged ahead for good in the seventh by scoring twice off two hits and Conor Gillaspie's error that ignited the rally.
The flub on a grounder to third put Hank Conger on first with no outs and continued
a disturbing trend for Chicago (14-19), which came into the game with 22 errors -- tied with the Angels for fourth-highest total in the American League.
After committing two more errors, the White Sox surpassed Los Angeles in errors and further frustrated manager Robin Ventura, who spoke about the issue before the game.
Mike Trout's RBI single brought home Conger with the eventual winning run in the seventh, and J.B. Shuck scored from third off a passed ball to make it 7-5.
The Angels bullpen made the lead stand up, with Ernesto Frieri picking up the save, and Los Angeles won its second straight game. It was the first time the Angels had accomplished that seemingly insignificant feat since sweeping the Detroit Tigers from April 19-21 in a three-game series.
Dylan Axelrod (0-3) started and took the loss for the White Sox, despite bouncing back from a four-run third to keep the Angels off the scoreboard after his teammates battled back to tie it 5-5 with a four-run fourth off Los Angeles starter Barry Enright.
Alejandro De Aza went 2 for 4 with a solo home run to lead off the game and Dayan Viciedo went 1 for 3 with a two-run double in his first game back from a stint on the disabled list because of an oblique strain.
The Angels' Brendan Harris went 3 for 4 with a solo home run in the fourth and Trout went 2 for 5 to lead an offensive outburst that featured eight of nine Los Angeles hitters getting at least one hit.
The Angels got to Axelrod in the third for a 4-1 lead by scoring four runs on five hits and an error on Albert Pujols' double to left center that scored Trout and Harris. Conger, who
doubled to lead off the inning, also scored on Shuck's sacrifice fly to right center, which nearly went for extra bases if not for a great running catch at the fence by Alex Rios.
Harris added a solo homer to left center with two out in the fourth off Axelrod, his third home run of the season, but Chicago scored four times in the bottom half of the inning to knot it 5-5.
The White Sox tagged Angels starter Barry Enright with all five runs, after he also yielded
a leadoff home run to De Aza in the bottom of the first.
Viciedo's two-run double in the fourth highlighted that inning, scoring Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko, and the Sox also got a clutch two-out, RBI single by Tyler Flowers that tied it.
Chicago did leave runners at the corners in that frame when reliever Mark Lower for Jeff Keppinger to ground out to end the inning, but the game was reset for Axelrod, who was seeking his first win since Aug. 29, 2012, in Baltimore despite allowing three or fewer runs in five of his six previous starts this season.
Enright, a reliever by trade, made the start in place of rotation regular Tommy Hanson, who was scratched from the start and placed on the restricted list Friday afternoon while dealing with a death in the family.
Aside from De Aza's quick home run, Enright looked good early until running into trouble in the fourth while trying to protect a four-run lead.
NOTES: The White Sox finally got one of their regular position players back from the isabled list on Friday when Viciedo started in left field after being sidelined April 20 in Toronto with a left oblique strain. Outfielder Jordan Danks was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to make room on the 25-man roster. ... second baseman Gordon Beckham (fractured left hand) took 100 swings off a tee before Friday night's game and said it went well. Beckham hopes to get sent out on a minor-league rehab assignment within a week and potentially return to the Sox lineup in a couple of weeks if all goes well. ... Ventura is tiring of his team's habit of poor fielding this season. "It's getting better as far as attention to detail, but the small things, I think, are very important and they have to understand that I think it's very important." ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia spent much of his pregame session with reporters alking about the incident from Thursday night's game in Houston, in which the Astros were illegally allowed to use a relief pitcher. Major League Baseball suspended the crew chief, Fieldin Culbreth, for two games and the Angels' protest was rescinded because Los Angeles won the game. "We don't have to make too much of this. I don't think there's an apology necessary," Scioscia said. "It's just an isolated, unfortunate incident as far as application of the rules. ... but that's done." ... Left-hander Scott Downs (foot) and SS Erick Aybar (hamstring) both left Thursday's game in Houston with injuries but aren't expected to be placed on the disabled list for the Angels.
