ANAHEIM, Calif. — Chris Sale stifled the Los Angeles Angels’ bats for the second time in six days, scattering three hits over 7 2-3 innings with a season-high 12 strikeouts on Friday night to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory.
Alex Rios and Adam Dunn homered for the White Sox, who extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.
Sale (5-2) threw 79 of his 113 pitches for strikes in another competitive duel with fellow lefty C.J. Wilson, whom he beat 3-0 last Sunday night at Chicago. In that gem, Sale retired the first 19 batters and settled for a one-hitter – Mike Trout’s one-out single in the seventh inning – while recording his first shutout in the major leagues.
Sale extended his scoreless streak to 23 innings. It was his sixth straight start of at least seven innings while allowing fewer than three earned runs – the longest such streak by a White Sox pitcher since a seven-game stretch by Mark Buehrle in 2007.
Addison Reed pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.
Wilson (3-3) lost his third straight start, allowing two runs and six hits over seven innings in his longest outing of the season. It was his first home start since April 21 against Detroit, following four straight on the road.
Rios drove his 10th home run to left-center with two out in the first to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, one shy of his career best in 2006 with Toronto. Paul Konerko followed with a vicious line drive back to Wilson, who caught it before spiking the ball with his glove in frustration over the homer he surrendered on an 0-2 pitch.
Wilson gave up only three more hits until the seventh, when Dayan Viciedo singled with one out. White Sox manager Robin Ventura played hit-and run with Jeff Keppinger to stay away from a potential inning-ending double play, and Viciedo pulled into second as Keppinger grounded out to third. Conor Gillaspie followed with an RBI single.
Dunn ended the scoring with his 10th homer of the season and fourth in four games against Garrett Richards in the ninth.
NOTES: Sale’s streak of consecutive innings without a walk ended at 22 2-3 in the first when he put Trout on after getting ahead of him 0-2. … Tyler Flowers’ throwing error was Chicago’s 10th in nine games and AL-worst 31st this season, only one more than the Angels have. Last season, the White Sox led the majors with a franchise-record .988 fielding percentage. … Angels 3B Alberto Callaspo was 0 for 3 in his second career game as a DH. His other also was against the White Sox, on June 30, 2010, when he went 1 for 4 with an RBI double for Kansas City. … The White Sox are the only AL club that hasn’t scored 10 runs in a game. … Hamilton was 0 for 3 against Sale. Left-handed hitters are 3 for 52 against him this season. … Konerko was 1 for 4, making him 7 for 30 with two homers, eight RBIs and five walks in the nine games he has started in the cleanup spot. … The Angels got one hit over the final 5 2-3 innings, a single by No. 9 hitter Luis Jimenez that ended his 0-for-13 drought.
