Sox beat Brewers in ten 1-0, acquire Youkilis for Lillibridge and Stewart

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Pinch hitter Eduardo Escobar lined an RBI single in the 10th inning and the White Sox made it an adventuresome afternoon, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 Sunday.The win moved the White Sox past Cleveland into the AL Central lead. The Sox also announced it had acquired All-Star infielder Kevin Youkilis and cash from Boston in a trade for infielder Brent Lillibridge and right-handed pitcher Zach Stewart.Alejandro De Aza opened the White Sox 10th with a double off Manny Parra (0-1). Adam Dunn walked with one out and Escobar, batting for Lillibridge, singled.Brian Bruney (1-0) walked two and struck out a pair in one inning.Starters Michael Fiers of the Brewers and Jose Quintana of the White Sox each pitched deep into the game.

NOTES—Friday night’s game also was scoreless after nine innings with ther Brewers winning that one 1-0.

Garza good, Miley better as D-Backs sweep Cubs

PHOENIX—Wade Miley outpitched Matt Garza in eight strong innings, Justin Upton had three RBI and the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep with a 5-1 victory over the Cubs on Sunday.Miley (9-3) retired 20 of the first 21 batters he faced before giving up a homer to Alfonso Soriano in the seventh inning, then worked out of a jam in the eighth with runners on second and third.Jason Kubel hit a solo homer off Garza (2-6) and Upton broke open a tight game with a two-run single through the left side off Manny Corpas in the eighth inning.Arizona has won 10 of 11 at home and 12 of 17 overall to creep up the NL West standings.The Cubs had four hits and were swept in a three-game series by the Diamondbacks for the first time since 2001. The Cubs have lost four straight and eight of 11, dropping its record to a baseball-worst 24-48.The Diamondbacks had been on an offensive tear, scoring 46 runs the previous five games, their most in the same span since 2000. They rolled over the Cubs the series’ first two games, including 10-5 on Saturday for their fifth straight game with at least 10 hits.They couldn’t keep it going against Garza, but didn’t need to the way Miley had the Cubs flailing.A nice surprise for the Diamondbacks this season, he has made a case to represent Arizona at the All-Star game and as a candidate for rookie of the year. Miley entered Sunday’s game as the rookie leader in wins and ERA (2.30), and had allowed three earned runs in 22 2/3 innings his previous three starts.The left-hander was good against the Cubs, too, retiring 14 straight batters before Soriano lifted a homer just over the wall in left-center in the seventh that cut Arizona’s lead to 2-1.Miley found himself in trouble in the eighth after walking Geovany Soto — the second he’s issued the last 149 batters — and Darwin Barney’s double that nearly cleared the wall in left-center. Miley stranded them by striking out Joe Mather, getting pinch-hitter Luis Valbuena on a line out to shortstop and David DeJesus on a comebacker.Miley walked to lead off the eighth inning and scored, along with Aaron Hill, when Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro couldn’t come up with Upton’s hard grounder that put the Diamondbacks up 5-1.Miley allowed three hits and struck out seven.Garza was nearly as good.The hard-throwing right-hander gave up a run in the first inning when he walked leadoff hitter Gerardo Parra and Upton knocked him in with a flare single to left-center.Garza had the Diamondbacks off-balance over the next four innings, retiring 15 straight batters before Parra hit a two-out triple in the sixth inning. Hill drove him in with an infield single that third baseman Mather had trouble handling just over the base.Garza’s one big mistake came in the seventh inning, when he left an 0-2 pitch up and Kubel hit it out to the pool in right-center — the 43rd all-time to get wet — for a solo homer that put the Diamondbacks up 3-1.Garza allowed three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

NOTES—Trevor Bauer, Arizona’s top pitching prospect, is expected to be called up and make his major league debut against Atlanta on Thursday. … The Cubs are 3-16 against left-handed starters this season. … Cubs LHP Travis Wood, the starter Monday against the New York Mets, has allowed three earned runs or less in six of his first seven big league starts. … Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson, who’ll start Tuesday against Atlanta, is 2-0 with a 7.01 ERA in five starts since returning from the DL. He had a no decision his last start, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in four innings of the Diamondbacks’ 12-9 loss to Seattle on Tuesday.

D-Backs beat Cubs despite Maholm’s 2nd career homer

PHOENIX—The Arizona Diamondbacks’ offense has gone from pathetic to prolific in a hurry.Paul Goldschmidt fell a single shy of the cycle, Justin Upton homered for the second time in three games, and the Diamondbacks climbed above .500 for the first time since May 4 by beating the last place Cubs 10-5 on Saturday night.A week after they were shut out three times — and scored just once in another game — on the road, the Diamondbacks have won four of five at home, accumulating 46 runs in the process.

“Baseball’s just crazy,” Upton said. “We kept our positive outlook throughout the whole thing, even when we were being shut out. We put good at bats together, we just weren’t getting it done. Now we’re still putting together good at bats, and the balls are falling for us.”

Goldschmidt tripled in a run in Arizona’s six-run fourth inning against Paul Maholm (4-6), homered in the sixth, and had a leadoff double. He scored his third run of the night in the eighth. Upton started the scoring with a solo home run off Maholm and had an RBI single.Asked what has happened to get the offense going, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said “I’m not sure I have the answer for you.”

“You just see better approaches, swings. They’re hitting mistakes, for sure,” he said. “We’re driving the ball like we knew we could. It just took us a while to get going.”

Maholm hit his second career home run, a two-run shot off Ian Kennedy, but fell to 0-4 in his last eight stars.Craig Breslow (2-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. The Diamondbacks can complete a three-game sweep of the Cubs when they send rookie left-hander Wade Miley to the mound in search of his ninth win on Sunday.Jason Kubel, Aaron Hill and Miguel Montero each had a pair of RBI as the Diamondbacks amassed 16 hits, one short of their season high. They have at least 10 hits in each of their last five games.Kennedy didn’t benefit, though.Despite being spotted a 7-2 lead, Kennedy got a no decision after failing to make it through the fifth inning.

“I was trying to get ahead of guys but my command was all over the place,” Kennedy said. “My offspeed wasn’t going for strikes and my fastball, either.”

Kennedy managed to get only one out after Alfonso Soriano’s leadoff single. Geovany Soto drew a one-out walk, then Steve Clevenger doubled both runners home. Kennedy was relieved by the lefty Breslow, who struck out Adrien Cardenas but gave up a pinch-hit RBI single to Jeff Baker to cut the lead to 7-5. Kennedy, 0-2 in his last three starts, allowed five runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out two, walking two and hitting a batter. Maholm, whose last win was May 9, went just 3 1/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season. He allowed seven runs, six earned, and nine hits. He didn’t strike out a batter, walked three and a hit batter.The Cubs, 10-28 on the road, got four hits apiece from David DeJesus and Starlin Castro, the top two batters in the order, but neither scored.

“Our core guys have to start doing something in the middle of that order,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.

The third through sixth hitters were a combined 1-for-14. Bryan LaHair, batting third, and Luis Valbuena, batting sixth, both were 0 for 5.

“He (LaHair) has struggled all year with people in scoring position,” Sveum said. “It just keeps continuing. You have to change the approach or whatever is going on but you have to get better at that.”

Arizona has won 11 of 16 overall and 9 of 10 at home. At 36-35, the Diamondbacks are above .500 for the first time since beating the Mets in New York to go 14-13 on May 4. After that, the Diamondbacks lost eight of nine.Upton’s home run, followed by Maholm’s two-run homer, had the Cubs ahead 2-1 in the fourth.Then they helped the Diamondbacks get rolling in the bottom half of the inning.With Arizona runners at first and third and one out, the third baseman Valbuena threw wide to first base after bobbling Hill’s grounder as the tying run scored. Upton followed with an RBI single, and Jason Kubel doubled two home and scored on Goldschmidt’s triple to the right field corner. Montero singled in Goldschmidt for the sixth run of the inning, ending the night for Maholm.

NOTES—Miley (8-3, 2.30 ERA) will face the Cubs’ Matt Garza (3-5, 4.07) on Sunday. The Cubs are 3-15 against left-handed starters and is batting .220 against left-handed pitching. … Arizona placed LHP Joe Saunders on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 17, a move that could clear the way for the major league debut of top pitching prospect Trevor Bauer. Gibson confirmed that Bauer, the fifth overall pick in last year’s draft, is a candidate to take Saunders’ next start. … Arizona’s second-largest home crowd of the season (38,542) put the team over 1 million for the season in 36 games. The Diamondbacks needed 42 games to top 1 million last year. … There were 22 runners were left on base, 12 by Arizona.

Gray and Michna explode as Rush beat KC 59-41

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KANSAS CITY—Sometimes all it takes is a familiar foe to get back on track. The Rush (9-5) used their first division game since May 6th to crown their first road victory since March by dismantling the Kansas City Command (3-11) 59-41 in front of 3,452 fans at the Sprint Center Saturday night.Trading touchdowns for the first sixteen minutes on way to a 14-14 tie, an element of Reggie Gray’s 2011 game returned at the 13:44 mark of the second quarter. Taking the kickoff off the rebound net, the Western Illinois product shook a few tacklers and darted up the field 57-yards for a touchdown. It was his fifth career AFL kickoff return for a score and his first of 2012. His first half also included knocking down his third career Rush record this season with his 16-yard acrobatic touchdown catch. The yards on the reception put him ahead of Etu Molden for the most career receiving yards in Rush history.Helping him attain the record tonight was quarterback Russ Michna, who continued his dazzling 2012 season. Breaking a Rush single-game record for completions that stood since 2001, he used those 32 completions to collect 301 yards and 6 touchdowns. Dating back to the Week 6 loss to Georgia when he threw four interceptions, Michna has elevated his game to throw 40 touchdowns and just 1 interception since.Beginning the game tonight by throwing two of his first three touchdowns to Jared Perry (9 catches, 111 yards), Michna finished by returning to Gray for the final three in the second half.Gray’s five total touchdowns was a performance the Command couldn’t place an intermission on. Outside of Jackie Chambers, who imitated Gray on way to his own kickoff return for a score, Kansas City’s only weapon that saw success was WR Bret Smith. Being the only Command receiver to total more than 26 receiving yards, his 9 catch, 140 yard and 3 TD effort was responsible for half of the Kansas City scoring drives.The disappointing effort by the Command offense was due to an inconsistent pocket for quarterback Zack Eskridge (15-29, 190 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT). Constantly side stepping or scurrying out of the pocket to throw, the Rush front four disrupted the passer despite not recording a sack. It was the second straight week the defense held an opposing passer below 200 yards passing.The game left the reach of Kansas City near the end of the third quarter when Michna floated a pass in the end zone that held up in the air long enough for Gray to race underneath it. The 5-yard touchdown catch gave the Rush a 49-34 lead, therefore pressuring Eskridge to take additional chances downfield on the ensuing possession. The 51% completion rate finally caught up to him as he tossed an errant pass 15-yards along the left sidewall that was intercepted by a Rush defensive back playing in only his second AFL game, Boubacar Cissoko. It was the second interception on the night for the Rush defense, as Jorrick Calvin grabbed his seventh interception of the year (3rd with the Rush) earlier in the first half.An eight play, 28-yard scoring drive off the Cissoko interception gave the Rush their first three possession lead of the night and muted the remaining crowd inside the Sprint Center.Eskridge’s second rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter pulled Kansas City back to within 15, but they decided against an onside kick with 6:34 remaining in the game. Michna responded to the missed opportunity by leading the Rush on their longest drive of the evening. The drive finished with Joe Houston making good on a 34-yard field goal to push the lead back to three scores and in turn eliminating all hope for Kansas City.The 59-41 win supplies the Rush with their ninth win of the year, setting up a huge National Conference match up with the San Jose SaberCats (9-5) next Saturday June 30th at Allstate Arena.

Sox out slug and outlast Brewers 8-6

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Dayan Viciedo homered and drove in four runs, Alex Rios delivered a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning, and the White Sox rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 on Saturday night.With the game tied 6-6, Gordon Beckham led off the seventh with a single and stole second. After an intentional walk to Paul Konerko, Rios put Chicago up for good.Addison Reed got Corey Hart to ground into a force out to leave the bases loaded in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances. The Brewers stranded 10 runners.Viciedo, who entered 7-for-53 (.132) with one extra-base hit and one multi-hit game in June, had three hits including a two-run homer that gave the White Sox a 4-2 lead in the fourth.Jesse Crain (2-1) earned the win. Jose Veras took the loss (3-3).The Brewers built a 6-4 lead in the sixth, batting around and scoring three times. Aramis Ramirez led off with a single, and Will Ohman relieved Dylan Axelrod after the White Sox starter hit Rickie Weeks with a pitch. Pinch-hitter Martin Maldonado singled home the tying run, Cody Ransom singled in the go-ahead run, and Carlos Gomez capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.The White Sox tied it in the bottom of the inning. Rios led off with a single, stole second and scored on Viciedo’s RBI single. Orlando Hudson knocked in Viciedo with a two-out double.Rios finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.Axelrod was called up from Triple-A Charlotte on Saturday and made his second start of the season in place of Philip Humber (right elbow strain), who went on the 15-day disabled list. He allowed five runs — four earned — in 5 1/3 innings.The Brewers opened the scoring in the top of the second on a defensive miscue. George Kottaras doubled down the left field line, and Viciedo misplayed the carom in the corner, allowing Aramis Ramirez to score from first.The White`Sox responded in the bottom half with back-to-back RBI singles from Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez to take a 2-1 lead.Milwaukee tied it in the third on an RBI single by Ryan Braun. The hit extended Braun’s overall hitting streak to 17 games and his interleague streak to 27. Beckham had three hits, including an RBI single in the eighth to cap the scoring.Aramis Ramirez singled twice and scored twice, extending his hitting streak to seven.Leadoff man Norichika Aoki had three hits, stole four bases, and scored twice for the Brewers.After a red-hot May, in which the White Sox tied a franchise record with 18 wins, they are 8-12 in June.

NOTES—Braun served as the designated hitter for the second time this season and fifth in his career. … Before the game, Milwaukee placed Shaun Marcum on the 15-day disabled list because of elbow soreness and activated Travis Ishikawa (oblique strain). … White Sox OF and leadoff hitter Alejandro De Aza had the day off. … The Brewers and White Sox will complete their three-game series on Sunday with Michael Fiers (2-2, 3.46) opposing Jose Quintana (2-1, 1.53).

Samardzija slump continues as Cubs lose to D-Backs

PHOENIX—Jason Kubel hit a two-run homer and five relievers filled in for scratched starter Joe Saunders to lift the Arizona Diamondback to a 6-1 win over the Cubs on Friday night.Saunders had trouble getting loose in the bullpen, so the Diamondbacks turned to one-time starter Josh Collmenter. He gave up a long homer to Geovany Soto in the fourth and Brad Ziegler (4-1) followed with two scoreless innings.David Hernandez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth to finish off his second save and Arizona’s eighth victory in nine home games.Jeff Samardzija (5-6) gave up a two-run triple to Miguel Montero after Kubel’s homer and the Cubs stranded 11 runners during their sixth loss in nine games.

Brewers edge Sox 1-0 in ten as Greinke and Sale put on pitching clinic

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The way Zack Greinke and Chris Sale were locked in, the hitters never had a chance. This one belonged to the starters.Greinke pitched three-hit ball over nine innings, Rickie Weeks drove in the lone run with a single in the 10th and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the White Sox 1-0 on Friday night.The Brewers finally pulled out a close win after dropping five of the previous nine by one run, thanks to one dominant pitching performance and one clutch hit.

“I felt better as the game went on,” Greinke said. “I was a little off and on early. Got some breaks. Some line drives hit at people and then I kind of settled in a little bit.”

The Brewers ultimately rewarded him in the 10th.Former Cub and Sox killer Aramis Ramirez led off by lining his second double of the game down the left-field line against Jesse Crain (1-1). Nyjer Morgan ran for him and advanced on a wild pitch before Weeks drove a single past a diving third baseman Orlando Hudson to make it 1-0.John Axford came on in the 10th and got his 13th save in 17 chances after blowing three of his previous five opportunities. He walked Gordon Beckham leading off, but struck out Adam Dunn before Paul Konerko grounded into a double play to end the game.That gave Greinke (8-2) the win on a night when Sale pitched eight scoreless innings for the second time in three starts.

“You don’t have long innings,” Greinke said. “You just come in. You get your five, 10 minutes, just relax a little and you’re back out there. Sometimes, you get in more of a rhythm when there are no long innings.”

Greinke struck out four and walked one. The only hits he allowed were singles by Alex Rios in the fifth, Beckham in the seventh and A.J. Pierzynski in the eighth, and the White Sox hit into double plays in each of those innings.Sale was about as dominant, striking out seven and walking one as the Sox lost for the seventh time in nine games.

“I see why his record (8-2) and his ERA (2.24) are where they are,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “He’s really funky along with great stuff.”

White Sox manager Robin Ventura was impressed by both starters.

“You’re looking at two pitchers that were … just moving it in and out, back and forth,” he said. “I think both of them were doing that all night. It’s not just one pitch that they have.”

The only serious threat against him was when Weeks doubled with one out in the fifth and advanced on a wild pitch. He got out of it by striking out Cody Ransom and Martin Maldonado.Addison Reed pitched a scoreless ninth thanks to two neat plays by Hudson at third. He made a leaping catch on Norichika Aoki’s liner leading off and ranged far to his left on Carlos Gomez’s grounder before Ryan Braun struck out.Both teams were busy before the game.The Brewers signed veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez to a one-year contract, after he was released by Atlanta.The White Sox placed pitcher Philip Humber on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right elbow flexor and designated outfielder Kosuke Fukudome for assignment.

“Obviously, having Phil go down, that’s a big blow,” Sale said. “We love having him in there on the mound and what he brings to our team is great.”

NOTES—The Brewers recorded their fourth shutout, while the White Sox failed to score a run for the seventh time….Braun extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single to shortstop in the fourth….The Brewers also designated LHP Juan Perez and INF Edwin Maysonet for assignment and reinstated SS Cesar Izturis from the 15-day DL….C Jonathan Lucroy had a pin removed from his right hand on Thursday and could begin catching bullpen sessions in the next day or two. “He’s raring to go,” Roenicke said….With Humber out, Ventura said Dylan Axelrod will start Saturday against Randy Wolf….The White Sox purchased the contract of right-hander Brian Bruney from Triple-A Charlotte.

Floyd, Sox prevent sweep with 7-0 win over Cubs

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Gavin Floyd needed a night like this. So did his team, for that matter.Floyd pitched four-hit ball into the seventh, Gordon Beckham homered, and the struggling White Sox beat the Cubs 7-0 Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.Floyd (5-7) put aside his recent problems. Beckham matched a career-high by driving in four runs, and the White Sox got an easy win after dropping six of seven. They also avoided being swept for the first time this season.

“We needed that,” Beckham said. “We’ve been doing a good job of not getting swept. … We’re playing hard, we’re doing the right thing. It’s just coming a little harder the last week and a half.”

They finally showed some pop after managing just 19 runs over the previous seven games, including a 2-1 loss in which Jake Peavy went the distance the previous night. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko each delivered RBI singles as the White Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third. Beckham then chased Randy Wells (1-2) with a run-scoring single in the fourth and broke it open with a three-run drive off Scott Maine in the sixth, making it 6-0.That was more than enough on a night when Floyd came through with one of his best performances. The right-hander struck out four while walking just one batter in 6 1/3 innings. It was a huge improvement after going 1-4 with a 10.38 ERA in his previous six starts. He also got his first win in five outings against the Cubs and is now 1-3 against them.

“It was frustrating,” Floyd said.

But at the same time, he had “a peace about it” and kept believing he would get through it. He also felt he pitched better than the numbers showed, at least in some of those recent starts.

“There were games where I felt really good and [just didn’t] get the results,” he said. “It’s part of baseball, I guess.”

Floyd certainly had things working for him. He gave up a double to David DeJesus and triple to Starlin Castro leading off the third and sixth innings but worked out of it both times.The White Sox hitters did their part, too — particularly Beckham.After knocking out Wells in the fourth, he put this one away in the sixth when he drove his ninth homer to the sports bar just beyond the right-field wall.That shot came after Eduardo Escobar singled and Alejandro De Aza walked. By then, the White Sox were in control, something Wells never had.He struggled in a big way after being reinserted into the rotation with Ryan Dempster going on the disabled list this week because of right lat tightness.Wells threw 69 pitches in 3 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and four walks without a strikeout.

“The bottom line was the walks again with him,” manager Dale Sveum said. “He’s got to throw strikes. He just can’t seem to maintain innings without walking anybody.”

Wells was wild from the start and paid for it as the White Sox scored two in the third. He walked Escobar and De Aza to start the inning, and they came around on the singles by Dunn and Konerko.The Cubs got a scare in the seventh when reliever Casey Coleman was hit on the last three knuckles on his right hand by the barrel of a broken bat as Escobar grounded to second to end the inning.Sveum and a trainer immediately came out to the mound. Coleman walked off on his own power, but Manuel Corpas came out to start the eighth.Sveum said X-rays showed no fractures, and Coleman said he won’t miss any time. The next game is at Arizona on Friday.

“I didn’t see it until it hit me,” Coleman said. “It’s really scary when something like that happens, but I got lucky it was just the barrel that hit me in the knuckle. It’s scary, when you don’t see it, especially.”

NOTES—The White Sox held Orlando Hudson out of the lineup and went with Escobar at third base, instead. “Just a mental break,” manager Robin Ventura said. Hudson, who is new to the position, committed a throwing error that helped set up DeJesus’ two-run single on Tuesday and was in a 4-for-26 slide at the plate….Sveum had no issue with Peavy saying after Tuesday’s game that the White Sox have “got to show up and take advantage of these opportunities” against weak teams. “”The record dictates those kind of things,” Sveum said. “When you’ve won 20 games coming into a series and the other team’s won 35, that’s the way it is. That’s the way you look at schedules. That’s just what we all do. That’s just the nature of the game.”

Cubs take advantage of Hudson error, beat Peavy 2-1, Sox fall to second place

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Considering how long it had been, it’s no surprise that Travis Wood was just a little relieved.Wood pitched six strong innings for his first win as a starter in more than a year, and the Cubs beat the White Sox 2-1 on Tuesday night even though Jake Peavy again went the distance.

“Get the first one, get the monkey off your back, and hopefully, you start rolling from here,” Wood said.

David DeJesus drove in both runs with a single in the third inning. He led off the ninth with a triple, but Peavy struck out Steve Clevenger looking at a 2-2 pitch with runners on second and third.The Cubs handed the White Sox their sixth loss in seven games. The North Siders will try to complete the sweep Wednesday after dropping all three at Wrigley Field last month. The White Sox, meanwhile, were shaking their heads, knowing they are now second in the AL Central and a half-game behind Cleveland after clinching their fifth straight series loss.

“Teams that we feel we should beat that aren’t playing that well, we got to show up and take advantage of these opportunities,” Peavy said. “Detroit is coming. And we know Cleveland isn’t going anywhere.”

Wood (1-3) was simply terrific. He has spent time in the minors this season after coming from Cincinnati in the trade for Sean Marshall, and he finally came away with his first win since a relief appearance for the Reds at Pittsburgh on Aug. 19. He hadn’t won as a starter since he beat the Los Angeles Dodgers last June 15, but he finally got one after allowing one run and four hits while striking out five and walking four.

“You always understand the pressures of coming to a new team, especially when you were traded for one of the best relievers in baseball,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “You want to impress. It sure seems like he’s relaxed out there, making his pitches and making pitches when he has to.”

The White Sox threatened in the eighth when James Russell walked Gordon Beckham and Adam Dunn with one out. Manuel Corpas came in, and a sprinting Reed Johnson, who had just replaced Bryan LaHair in right, grabbed Paul Konerko’s shallow fly before Alex Rios grounded out to end the inning. Carlos Marmol worked the ninth for his fourth save in six chances, retiring Orlando Hudson on a grounder to end the game after he walked A.J. Pierzynski.Peavy (6-3) took another tough-luck loss in his third complete game. The veteran threw 125 pitches and allowed five hits while striking out five and walking one. He retired 16 straight hitters before Tony Campana singled in the eighth, but came up short again after a 1-0 loss at St. Louis last week. The Cubs didn’t get much going after setting season highs for runs, hits (15) and homers (five) in a 12-3 win on Monday, but they still squeezed this one out. The White Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when right fielder LaHair took a poor route on Alexei Ramirez’s ground-rule double to the corner after walks to Rios and Dayan Viciedo. Wood then walked Tyler Flowers to load the bases but retired Hudson on a pop fly and struck out Alejandro De Aza to end the inning. DeJesus came through with the two-run single after Geovany Soto reached on a wide throw by Hudson at third, Campana singled off the pitcher’s foot and Peavy uncorked a wild pitch to put them on second and third. That was enough on a night when Wood dominated. The Cubs also made several neat defensive plays, including one by shortstop Starlin Castro. He raced back for an over-the-shoulder catch on De Aza’s bloop to center, bare-handing the ball after it popped out of his glove.

“Unbelievable,” Castro said. “I don’t know how.”

Hudson, meanwhile, was fuming at himself for that bad throw on Soto’s grounder.

“I lost the game for the man [Peavy], that’s it,” he said. “The man threw a hell of a game, I lost it for him. Point blank. Case closed. We lost. My bad. That’s it.”

NOTES—White Sox pitcher John Danks could begin a rehabilitation assignment in three or four weeks after tests confirmed he has a mild muscle strain in his left shoulder. Two MRIs on Monday showed that Danks has a mild Grade 1 strain of the subscapularis muscle in his left shoulder. There is no tendon or ligament damage and his labrum is intact….With Zach Stewart being optioned to Triple-A, the White Sox recalled RHP Dylan Axelrod from the minor league club. Axelrod was with the White Sox from April 27 to May 5, going 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in three appearances, including one start. He is expected to pitch mostly in long relief…..Cubs 3B Ian Stewart (15-day DL) received a second cortisone injection to treat a sore left wrist on Monday, this time on top of his left hand. Sveum said he doesn’t think surgery is on the table right now…..Asked if LaHair would have made the catch on Konerko in the eighth, Sveum said, “I don’t think LaHair would have gotten to it.”

Cubs go long-ball in 12-3 rout of Sox.

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Bryan LaHair knows a position change is imminent. He passed his first audition with flying colors.LaHair and Alfonso Soriano homered to lead the Cubs to a 12-3 victory over the White Sox on Monday night in the opener of the crosstown, interleague series. Making his first appearance of the season in right field, LaHair was tested early with a retreating catch to rob Gordon Beckham of extra bases in the first inning.

“I had a feeling I was going to get a ball early in the game, it always works that way,” LaHair said. “I got a good read, got a good jump and took a good angle.”

Manager Dale Sveum called the catch “as key as anything.”

Highly touted first base prospect Anthony Rizzo is tearing up Pacific Coast League pitching and could be promoted soon, leaving the 29-year-old LaHair as the odd man out unless he lands in the outfield.

“After today, probably every day,” Sveum said when asked how often LaHair will play the outfield. “Depending on what we do at first base, I think LaHair is going be out there quite a bit with [David] DeJesus in center field against right-handed pitching.”

The big lefty also helped his cause by hitting his 13th homer of the season with one on and two outs in the third to put the Cubs up 2-0.With winds gusting to 41 mph the Cubs had season highs of five home runs, 15 hits and 12 runs.Starlin Castro and Luis Valbuena homered and had three hits apiece for the Cubs and Geovany Soto added a solo shot in his first game back from the 15-day disabled list. Matt Garza (3-5) allowed home runs to Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski, but limited the damage to three runs over six innings to earn the win. Zach Stewart (1-2) was tagged for six runs and nine hits, including four homers, over 5 2/3 innings.

“You get two outs and then he just couldn’t get that third out. They were swinging it,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “It was a night [the ball] was carrying, and they put it on the barrel a lot.”

The Cubs exacted some revenge on the White Sox, who earned the sweep when the teams met at Wrigley Field May 18-20. The White Sox had won seven of the last eight matchups against the Cubs. The Cubs scored 11 runs with four homers on Memorial Day against the San Diego Padres, and had 14 hits four times.The White Sox have lost five of their last six and nine of 13 overall. Castro added a two-run shot in the fifth, and Soriano hit a solo homer two batters later. Soriano’s 440-foot blast to straightaway center was his 13th of the year — all have come since May 15. He added an RBI single in the Cubs’ six-run seventh. His four homers and 10 RBI are franchise records for a designated hitter.

“Not a lot of guys his age can do what he does,” Garza said of Soriano. “There are very few, and the few that do, they’re well respected.”

Garza was referring to the rain of boos Soriano caught on the last homestand for not running out a dropped liner to third. The 36-year-old has been a lightning rod for criticism from Cubs fans in his tenure there.

“He cares so much about what he does and takes a lot of pride in his craft,” Garza said. “He deserves a lot more respect from the fans than he’s getting.”

Stewart was roughed up in his first start of the season. Pitching in a long-relief role this season, he was called upon to give aces Chris Sale and Jake Peavy extra rest. Stewart allowed nine hits and six runs over 5 2/3 innings. He was pulled in the sixth after allowing his fourth homer of the game to Soto, who had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He had been out since May 16. Will Ohman gave up two runs in 2-3 of an inning of relief, and Nate Jones gave up four runs without retiring a batter in the seventh. Valbuena’s three-run shot capped the Cubs’ big inning. Pierzynski hit a solo homer in the fifth, his 12th of the season and Konerko hit his 13th, a two-run shot, in the sixth. Garza gave up three runs and five hits over six innings. He struck out six and issued one walk.

NOTES—The announced paid attendance was 33,215…..The Cubs placed Ryan Dempster (right lat tightness) on the 15-day DL and recalled RHP Scott Maine from Triple-A Iowa….Welington Castillo was optioned to Iowa to accommodate Soto’s roster spot…..The White Sox agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with first-round draft pick Courtney Hawkins. Hawkins, the 13th overall pick, will report to Advanced Rookie League Bristol…..Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen threw out the first pitch…..The Cubs will send Travis Wood (0-3, 4.58 ERA) to the hill on Tuesday against Peavy (6-2, 2.91).