Wander Franco drove in three runs as part of a 10-run seventh inning that also featured back-to-back homers from Randy Arozarena and Josh Lowe as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays cruised to a 12-3 win against the skidding Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Chicago entered the top of the seventh with a 3-0 lead and a no-hit bid for right-hander Lance Lynn, but left the inning with a deficit it couldn’t overcome on the way to a 10th straight defeat. The Rays won for the ninth time in 11 games while improving to 6-0 against the White Sox this season.
Franco opened the seventh with an opposite-field home run to left, spoiling Lynn’s pursuit of a no-hitter while giving the Rays a homer in each of their 12 road games to start the season. Franco also had a two-run single during the surge.
To that point, Lynn had retired 17 consecutive Rays after walking Franco with one out in the first inning. Tampa Bay stayed aggressive against Lynn and two relievers, collecting nine hits and two walks in the seventh while sending 14 men to the plate.
Lowe and Isaac Paredes joined Franco with two hits in the inning.
Elvis Andrus provided the White Sox with an early lead, grounding a two-run single to center field with one out in the second.
Chicago capitalized on wildness from Rays opener Calvin Faucher, who walked Eloy Jimenez and Jake Burger around a wild pitch to start the inning. Faucher’s throwing error on a Yasmani Grandal grounder loaded the bases.
Jimenez delivered an RBI double against Yonny Chirinos in the sixth, the lone blemish against a Rays bullpen that saw four relievers combine for 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
Chirinos (1-0) led the charge, scattering one run and three hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk.
Lynn (0-4) spaced four runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts. Aaron Bummer allowed three runs and two hits in one-third of an inning, and Jimmy Lambert followed by allowing three runs and four hits in one-third of an inning.
Francisco Mejia homered for the Rays in the eighth, while Arozarena added a second round-tripper in the ninth.
White Sox center fielder Luis Robert was removed in the second inning as a managerial decision. Robert grounded out in his first-inning at-bat and appeared to run gingerly out of the box.
–Field Level Media
