Major League Baseball

White Sox 8, Indians 3

Published Apr. 2, 2011 10:02 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

With Motley Crue's ''Dr. Feelgood'' thumping from the stereo, Omar Vizquel squeezed into a pair of tight leather pants, prompting Paul Konerko to ask Chicago's shortstop if he stole them from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Two games into a new season, the White Sox are having a blast.

''We're happy right now,'' starter Edwin Jackson said. ''Look around the clubhouse, it's pretty loose and relaxed. That's part of the game. You win when you go out and have fun, and that's what we're doing right now.''

Jackson pitched six effective innings to extend his mastery of Cleveland, Gordon Beckham and Carlos Quentin had two RBIs apiece and the White Sox beat the Indians 8-3 on Saturday for their first 2-0 start since 2005 - when they won the World Series.

Jackson allowed two runs and five hits while improving to 8-0 in his last nine starts against Cleveland. He had one shaky frame, and that wasn't all his fault as two errors on one play by third baseman Brent Morel helped the Indians score two in the second.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in two innings against Carlos Carrasco (0-1), who recovered and hung around until the seventh.

Travis Hafner homered for Cleveland in front of a crowd of 9,853 - the smallest in Progressive Field since the ballpark opened in 1994.

For a second straight day, the Indians faced a big, early deficit.

''We need to put up some zeros early in the game to give our offense a better chance to come back,'' manager Manny Acta said. ''We've put ourselves in a hole two straight games and that makes it tough to come back.''

Jackson must wish he faced the Indians every time he took the mound. Of the right-hander's 49 career wins, eight have come against Cleveland. He's 4-0 in his seven starts at Progressive Field, and the 27-year-old hasn't lost to the Indians since 2007, when he was with Tampa Bay.

''I have no clue,'' Jackson said when asked about his dominance over the Indians. ''I've really never kept up with stats. I just go out and try to continue to give my team a chance to win and everything else will take care of itself.''

Chicago's bullpen bounced back after a brutal opener, when it gave up six runs in three innings. Chris Sale and Sergio Santos combined for three scoreless innings.

''That was big for us,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. ''When you take the lead, you want to keep the lead.''

Picking up where they left off after Friday's 15-run outburst, the White Sox wasted little time in taking a 5-0 lead after two innings. Chicago's hitters seemed to extend their batting practice routines into the game against Carrasco, who was hit hard early.

Chicago scored four times in the second on Alexei Ramirez's RBI single, Beckham's two-run base hit and an RBI groundout by Adam Dunn. Carrasco was on the cusp of being sent to an early shower, but he got bailed out when third baseman Jack Hannahan made a diving catch to snare Alex Rios' line drive to end the inning with two runners on.

The Indians closed to 5-3 in the second on Hafner's blast into the right-field bullpen and Hannahan's two-run single, which was set up by Morel's miscues. With a runner at first, he bobbled Buck's grounder and threw the ball into the photographer's pit.

Jackson settled down after that, allowing just two hits over the next four innings.

Juan Pierre's RBI single made it 6-3 in the sixth, and Quentin doubled home two insurance runs in the seventh off reliever Chad Durbin.

Carrasco was named the No. 2 starter after a strong spring. The right-hander allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings, the second bad outing by a Cleveland starter after ace Fausto Carmona was battered for 10 runs in three innings on Friday.

Konerko's sacrifice fly put the White Sox ahead 1-0 in the first, when even Chicago's outs were rockets against Carrasco.

Notes: The previous smallest crowd was 10,071 on April 14 last season against Texas. ... Chicago has won eight of its last nine vs. Cleveland. ... Konerko's 64 career RBIs are the most by a visiting player at Progressive Field. ... The Indians and White Sox both had home runs reviewed on opening day. Acta has no problem with the umpires taking an extra look on TV. ''I'm for it,'' Acta said. ''That's just about the only thing I'm for on replays. I think it sometimes becomes a joke because you know the ball went out, but you just want to give the benefit of the doubt to video and not trust your eyesight. It's there, so why not use it.'' ... White Sox LHP John Danks will start Sunday despite a tooth infection that required a dentist's visit in Cleveland.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball