ARLINGTON—Alexei Ramirez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning to lead the White Sox to a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night.Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin hit back-to-back doubles in the sixth to tie it at 3 for the Sox. Two outs later, Ramirez lined a homer off starter Scott Feldman (5-8).Mark Buehrle (7-7) won for the fourth time in five starts to even his record for the first time since April 21. He allowed three runs — including homers by Josh Hamilton and Julio Borbon — and five hits over seven innings to improve his career record against Texas to 12-5.Matt Thornton, who earned his first All-Star berth, got three outs for his fifth save in seven chances. He was subbing for regular closer Bobby Jenks, who came off the bereavement list on Friday after missing almost a week and is working to get back into game shape.The White Sox have won 18 of 23 to move a game behind Detroit and Minnesota in the AL Central.Hamilton homered for Texas to extend his home hitting streak to 24 games, second-longest in club history. His two-run shot in the fourth after Vladimir Guerrero singled gave Texas a 2-1 lead. Hamilton had been tied at 23 straight game with Michael Young (2009) and Ivan Rodriguez (1995). Al Oliver’s 30-game streak in 1981 is the Rangers’ home record.Hamilton and Guerrero were voted as starters for the AL All-Star team announced earlier Sunday.Feldman allowed five runs — four earned — and eight hits in six innings for the AL West-leading Rangers, who have lost four of six.Of the Sox 24 hits in the first two games of the series, 22 were singles and two were doubles. This time, four of the nine hits for the White Sox went for extra bases.The Sox got an unearned run in the second when Quentin reached on third baseman Young’s throwing error, and scored on Mark Kotsay’s double.After Hamilton’s 20th homer of the season sent Texas in front in the fourth, the Sox tied it at 2 in the fifth on rookie Dayan Viciedo’s RBI groundout.Borbon’s one-out solo homer in the fifth put Texas back ahead 3-2.Omar Vizquel left in the third inning after being hit by a pitch from Feldman. He was struck by a fastball in the left knee and rolled to the ground in pain with what was later diagnosed as a bruise following negative X-rays.He was examined on the field by White Sox medical personnel before walking slowly to the dugout and was replaced by Viciedo. The White Sox said Vizquel would be evaluated Monday in Chicago.

NOTES—The Rangers played their 81st game, reaching the midway point of the season at 48-33, their second-best record in club history at that point. The 1996 team was 49-32. … The White Sox completed a 3-3 trip with their 80th game. … Rangers rookie 1B Justin Smoak went 0 for 3 and is hitless in his last 23 at-bats. … Ramirez was 8 for 12 in the three-game series.

Drew Stubbs hit three of the Cincinnati Reds’ season-high seven home runs on Sunday to lead a 14-3 romp over the Cubs.The hot-hitting Reds had four of the homers during an eight-run seventh inning, all of them coming after Cubs starter Ted Lilly retired the first two batters.Brandon Phillips began the barrage with a solo shot to left, and Jonny Gomes chased Lilly (3-7) with a two-run homer. Jeff Stevens came on in relief and surrendered a solo home run to Corky Miller, and after back-to-back walks, Stubbs went deep for the second time in the game.Stubbs also hit a solo home run in the third inning and another solo shot in the ninth.Mike Leake (6-1) picked up the win for Cincinnati, allowing three runs in six innings. Three relievers combined to pitch three perfect innings to finish it off.Tyler Colvin drove in all three runs for the Cubs. He hit an inside-the-park home run in the first inning that brought Marlon Byrd in to score, and added a homer to center in the sixth.The seventh inning for the Cubs was nearly as horrific as a nine-run seventh inning on Friday night. In both games, the Reds sent 13 batters to the plate, but they only needed three hits to get all that offense Friday night.The Wrigley Field fans repeatedly booed the Cubs in the seventh inning.The Reds played most of the game without Joey Votto, who was ejected in the first inning for arguing a called third strike. Paul Janish took his place in the lineup and went 4 for 4 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer to left in the sixth inning.The Reds have had some impressive power surges against the Cubs in the past.The four home runs in the seventh were the most allowed by the Cubs in an inning since May 7, 2008, at Cincinnati. And the seven home runs in the game were the most by the Cubs’ pitching staff since the Reds belted seven of them on July 10, 2008.

NOTES—The Reds took three of four games from the Cubs to win their fourth consecutive series. … Lilly allowed four home runs, Stevens allowed two and Andrew Cashner allowed the other home run by Cincinnati. … Byrd was the lone Cubs player to make the All-Star team. Phillips, Scott Rolen and Arthur Rhodes made it for Cincinnati, while Votto is one of five players in Internet voting for the final NL roster spot.

ARLINGTON—Tommy Hunter has brought stability to the Texas Rangers’ rotation.Hunter scattered nine singles over seven-plus innings on his 24th birthday and Texas beat the White Sox 3-1 on Saturday night.Hunter (5-0) allowed one run, struck out three and walked one for the AL West leaders to lower his ERA to 1.98.The right-hander sustained a left oblique strain in spring training and began the season on the disabled list. After recovering, he made six starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City before he was called up on June 5.Texas, which has lost three starters to injuries at various times this season, has won all six games Hunter has started in 2010.Hunter’s outing included a three-pitch sixth inning against an aggressive lineup.Hunter, who has gone at least six innings in five of his six starts this season, left in the eighth to a standing ovation after Juan Pierre drew a leadoff walk and Alexei Ramirez singled for his third hit of the night.The runners moved up on Frank Francisco’s balk, and Pierre scored on Alex Rios’ groundout.But Francisco struck out slugger Paul Konerko and retired Andruw Jones on a fly ball to preserve the two-run lead.The Sox first nine hits were singles until pinch-hitter Brent Lillibridge’s leadoff double in the ninth against Darren Oliver. Neftali Feliz struck out pinch-hitter Carlos Quentin and Gordon Beckham for his 23rd save in 24 chances.White Sox starter John Danks (7-7) gave up two runs and four hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked four.Danks’ teammates have provided three runs or fewer in 10 of his 16 starts this season.The Sox, which had won 17 of 21, are two games out of first place in the AL Central.Josh Hamilton extended his home hitting streak to 23 games with a second-inning infield single. Hamilton is tied with Michael Young (2009) and Ivan Rodriguez (1995) for the second-longest home streak since the team relocated from Washington in 1972.Al Oliver’s 30-game run in 1981 is the club’s longest at home.Later in the second, Joaquin Arias’ groundout drove in Hamilton from third with the game’s first run. Elvis Andrus made it 2-0 in the fifth when his single scored Arias from second.The Rangers stretched their lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Nelson Cruz scored from third while pinch-hitter Justin Smoak was grounding into a double play.

NOTES—Hamilton was officially credited with the longest home run in the 17-year history of Rangers Ballpark after research by a college physics professor concluded that his drive June 27 against Houston traveled 490 feet. The original estimate by the Rangers was 468 feet, but Andrew Brandt of Texas-Arlington — in consultation with other experts – calculated the longer distance. Jose Canseco held the previous record at Rangers Ballpark, a 480-foot shot for Texas in 1994. … Hamilton hit into his first double play of the season in the sixth. He’d gone 308 at-bats without one. … Smoak was replaced at 1B in the starting lineup by Arias. Smoak, who had started 61 of the previous 64 games at 1B, is in an 0-for-20 slide. … Rangers RHP Rich Harden threw another bullpen session in his rehab from a strained gluteal muscle. Harden will need at least one more bullpen session, then throw batting practice before a minor league rehab start. … Quentin wasn’t in the starting lineup as Guillen gave his everyday RF a break after Quentin was hit by a pitch on Friday night. Jones got the start in RF and went 0 for 4.

Randy Wells took a no-hitter into the seventh inning to end his long losing streak and Geovany Soto hit a two-run double as the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 on Saturday despite stranding 17 runners. Wells’ no-hit bid was broken up by Chris Heisey’s leadoff single on an 0-1 pitch in the seventh. Joey Votto followed with a single but the right-hander escaped a jam with the help of a baserunning blunder by Heisey, who took off for third on a pitch in the dirt but then stopped in the middle of the basepath and was thrown out in a rundown. Scott Rolen doubled to put runners at second and third before Wells struck out Jay Bruce and retired Ramon Hernandez on a grounder to end the inning. The Cubs won for just the fifth time in 15 games. The Cubs also left 17 runners on base in a 15-inning game April 9, 2004, at Atlanta. That marks the franchise record since the live-ball era began in 1920. The NL record is 18, set by the Braves on June 23, 1986, at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wells (4-6), who lost his previous six decisions, allowed five hits over 7 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one for his first win in 11 starts since April 30 against Arizona. Cubs closer Carlos Marmol got Heisey to fly out in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save in 18 opportunities. Wells faced one batter more than the minimum through six innings. He walked Paul Janish in the third with one out, but after a sacrifice bunt by Johnny Cueto, Brandon Phillips grounded out to end the inning. After pitching in and out of jams, Cueto left after five scoreless innings and 101 pitches. He worked around seven hits and five walks while striking out two. Votto reached base safely for the 41st consecutive game. Still, the NL Central-leading Reds had their three-game winning streak snapped. After going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 on base against Cueto, the Cubs finally managed to score against reliever Jordan Smith. With one out in the sixth, Smith (1-1) allowed a single to Tyler Colvin, then walked Derrek Lee and hit Marlon Byrd with a pitch to load the bases. Alfonso Soriano got the Cubs on the board with a bloop RBI single and Soto followed with a ground-rule double into the left-field ivy to make it 3-0. Laynce Nix hit a leadoff double in the eighth off Wells and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Nix scored on pinch-hitter Orlando Cabrera’s groundout. Wells was booed for failing to run hard on a sacrifice bunt in the fourth. After the inning, Lee spoke with him in the dugout. Lee ended the inning with a long fly to right with runners on first and third. NOTES— Cabrera stayed in the game after pinch-hitting in the seventh. … Detroit stranded 18 runners against Cleveland on April 11.

The Cincinnati Reds showed some patience, and the PITIFUL Cubs showed very little once again. After spending six innings flailing at pitches out of the strike zone Friday, the Reds started watching them go by. Six walks later — as well as three two-out hits, an error and a run-scoring passed ball — Cincinnati had a nine-run seventh inning during a 12-0 rout. “We just started laying off,” the Reds’ Brandon Phillips said of Cubs starter Ryan Dempster. “He did a great job early. We just caught up to him.” Dempster (6-7) had allowed only two hits, including Phillips’ solo homer, while striking out seven through six dominant innings. He then opened the seventh by walking Jonny Gomes and Jay Bruce. Ramon Hernandez grounded to Mike Fontenot but the second baseman dropped the ball for an error, and after Drew Stubbs struck out, Bronson Arroyo walked on four pitches to score a run. Brian Schlitter relieved and walked Phillips to make it 3-0. One out later, Hernandez scored on Koyie Hill’s passed ball. Joey Votto walked to load the bases again, Scott Rolen singled home two runs and Gomes doubled in two more. Bruce walked and Bob Howry gave up Hernandez’s double for a 10-0 lead. When Stubbs flied out to end the inning, many in the crowd of 40,361 cheered derisively. “That shows how fast an inning can get away,” Dempster said. “I throw four pitches in a row to the pitcher that don’t hit the strike zone … and the doors fall off.” It was Cincinnati’s biggest inning in five years and the most runs in an inning against the Cubs in four seasons. Gomes and Bruce became the first Reds to score two runs in an inning since 2004. While the Reds have used a 9-2 surge to move 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 9, 2006, the Cubs have fallen to 34-46 and 11½ games behind division-leading Cincinnati. The Cubs have lost 10 of their last 14 games, five by shutout, and are 10-20 since May 30. The team with the league’s highest payroll has scored six runs while going 1-4 on its homestand. “Two hits again. You’re not going to win too many games with two hits,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “Look, we lost, what, 12-nothing? It could have been 2-nothing or 3-nothing, but it’s still nothing.” Arroyo (8-4) allowed two hits and two walks, striking out three, in six sharp innings. Dusty Baker planned to send him out for another inning but the Reds batted for such a long time that the manager turned to Logan Ondrusek, who retired six straight. Micah Owings struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the Reds’ fifth shutout this year and fifth consecutive road victory. “My changeup was good today. I got a lot of groundballs when I needed them,” Arroyo said. “Luckily, we got a chance to break it open and give me kind of a rest.” The right-hander has progressed nicely this season, following a 6.37 ERA in April with marks of 3.89 in May and 3.60 in June before pitching superbly in his first July outing. He allowed Marlon Byrd’s second-inning single off shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s glove and then walked Kosuke Fukudome. Arroyo retired the next 13 batters before Fontenot singled with two outs in the sixth. After walking Derrek Lee, Arroyo preserved his 1-0 lead by getting Aramis Ramirez to ground out as fans booed. Then came the seventh, which included the four-pitch walk that gave Arroyo his seventh RBI this season. “With Dempster on the mound … I thought maybe we’d put a couple more on the board,” he said. “But I didn’t think it was going to explode like that.” Votto added a two-run homer, his 19th, in the eighth. He has reached base in 40 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this season and Cincinnati’s longest since Pete Rose reached in 48 straight in 1978. The Reds came into the game leading the league in batting, runs, hits, total bases, RBI and slugging. They are 6-2 against the Cubs, who are trying hard to keep the faith. “A little adversity never hurt anybody,” Hill said. “We’ve got a strong bunch of hearts.”

NOTES—At 19-16, Cincinnati is one of only two NL teams with a winning road record. San Diego is 22-14. During his streak, Votto is batting .327 with 11 HRs, 33 RBI, 24 walks and four hit-by-pitches. Dempster has made the second-most starts, 243, of any Canadian-born major league pitcher. Fergie Jenkins ranks first with 594. Piniella said he will rotate Fontenot, Ryan Theriot and Jeff Baker at 2B until somebody starts producing.

ARLINGTON—Mark Kotsay made sure a late night — or, more aptly, early morning — didn’t last any longer. He had the only extra-base hit for the White Sox, and it was a big one. Kotsay had a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning and the White Sox beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 5-3 on Friday in a game that started about two hours late because of rain. The White Sox had 12 singles before Kotsay — struggling at .220 — hit a sinking liner to left that ricocheted off the glove of a diving Josh Hamilton. That snapped a 3-all tie after they had trailed going into the seventh.After Paul Konerko reached on a fielder’s choice, Brent Lillibridge came on as a pinch-runner and moved up when Carlos Quentin got hit on the arm by a 97 mph fastball from Neftali Feliz (1-2). Kotsay then hit his double, though he didn’t score on the 13th single that followed. “Obviously in that situation, you like to come through for your team,” Kotsay said. “It felt great when it landed.” J.J. Putz (5-2) worked a scoreless inning before Matt Thornton pitched the ninth for his fourth save. Feliz, the rookie who leads the AL with 21 saves, had made seven consecutive scoreless appearances before taking over in the ninth, a few minutes after midnight local time. Alex Rios had three hits and drove in two runs for the White Sox, who have won 17 of 21 games. Like the Rangers, Sox had an 11-game winning streak in June to match the longest in the majors this season. “This club has shown some good character during this streak,” Kotsay said. Hamilton homered and Vladimir Guerrero had a two-run triple for Texas, which still has a 3-game division lead after the Angels lost to Kansas City on Friday night. Texas lost two of three in Los Angeles this week. After Rangers starter Colby Lewis was knocked out of the game after giving up consecutive singles to start the seventh, Rios had an RBI single before Konerko’s sacrifice fly tied the game 3-all. “They took it from us. They won it,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “We had the game won going into the seventh inning, we just didn’t keep them from scoring.” Guerrero got his triple in the third, on a sinking liner that got past a diving Rios in center. The ball rolled to the fence and Guerrero kept running as Texas took a 2-1 lead. Hamilton led off the sixth and made it 3-1 with a 413-foot homer that hit the back wall of the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center — below the second deck of seats where his estimated 468-foot shot landed Sunday. That drive is listed as the second-longest ever at Rangers Ballpark, though the distance is still being studied. Veteran catcher Bengie Molina, acquired from San Francisco, made his Rangers debut batting sixth. He had a single in his first at-bat in the second. The start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 25 minutes. The scheduled postgame fireworks show went on as scheduled. After the Rangers got home about 5 a.m. Friday, Guerrero still had plenty left after going 6 for 11 with three home runs in his return to Anaheim, where the 2004 AL MVP played the past six seasons. Hamilton and Guerrero almost certainly will be back in Anaheim as AL starters in the All-Star Game July 13. While Hamilton’s major league-best 23-game hitting streak was snapped Thursday night, he has still hit safely in 22 straight home games. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia had his second consecutive no-decision after winning five in a row. The right-hander allowed three runs and six hits over six innings. After Lewis was lifted, Alexi Ogando gave up an RBI single and sacrifice fly, but those runs were changed to Lewis. The rookie reliever has made seven consecutive scoreless appearances (covering 10 innings) to start his major league career. “I don’t feel I threw the ball poorly,” said Lewis, who is 4-1 with a 3.45 ERA in seven home starts. “I gave up some hits in some counts I didn’t need to.” Juan Pierre had a leadoff single in the third, then got his major league-leading 30th stolen base. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Rios.

NOTES—Garcia’s last loss was May 23 against Florida. … White Sox closer Bobby Jenks rejoined the team after five days on the family medical emergency list while dealing with a family illness. Guillen had said he’d hoped to “stay away” from using Jenks, and he did. …The Sox had two errors after committing only three its previous 15 games.

A battle between two of the AFL’s best lived up the hype Friday night, with the Tampa Bay Storm outslugging the Rush 68-60 at the St. Pete Times Forum.The loss prevented the Rush (9-4) from becoming the first AFL team to clinch a playoff spot this season,they will now have to wait until next week to try to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth-consecutive year when the Rush hosts Arizona Saturday, July 10 at Allstate Arena.

“Tampa Bay has been playing really well, especially at home,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “I thought we also played well tonight, but we made a few mistakes – and those mistakes turned out to be the difference in the ballgame.”

It was an evenly matched game throughout, with the teams trading touchdowns the entire evening. But in the end, the difference proved to be two Rush missed extra points and a Rush fourth quarter fumble that was returned by the Storm (9-3) for a touchdown.Trailing by eight early in the fourth quarter, Rush QB Russ Michna led the team on a 10-play drive, culminating with a two-yard touchdown run from Clifton Smith to pull the Rush to within two-points, 55-53. With Rush kicker Chris Gould already having missed two PAT attempts in the game, the Rush tried for the two-point conversion to tie the game. However, the conversion attempt failed and the Rush remained down by two.On the following possession, Tampa Bay QB Brett Dietz connected with Tyrone Timmons for a touchdown and a 62-53 Storm lead with just 2:42 left in the game.On the following possession, Rush wide receiver Syvelle Newton fumbled trying to gain extra yards after a catch. The ball popped into the hands of Storm defensive back Erick McIntosh, who returned it 28 yards for a TD to put Tampa Bay up 68-53 with 46 seconds left in the game.A late TD pass from Michna to Alan Turner with 1.6 seconds remaining made the final score 68-60.The first half was a see-saw battle that saw seven lead changes and both teams score touchdowns on all five of their possessions.The Rush got off to a quick start as quarterback Michna (26-38, 334 yards, 7 TDs) connected with Alan Turner for a 42-yard touchdown on the very first play of the game.After a Tampa Bay score tied it up, the Rush regained the lead on the next possession when Michna and Turner connected for a second time on a 10-yard score. A missed Chris Gould extra point made it 13-7. The miss put an end to Gould’s team record 35-consecutive made extra point attempts.The missed extra point would prove costly and, on the next Tampa Bay possession, the Storm took its first lead of the game as Dietz connected with Hank Edwards for the second time on an 8-yard score.After the two teams traded scores the following two possessions, Timmons’ 23-yard reception from quarterback Brett Dietz gave the Storm a 28-27 lead. However the Rush quickly responded as Clifton Smith rumbled in from three yards out to put the Rush on top 34-28.A one-yard touchdown on the next Storm possession gave Tampa Bay a 35-34 lead going into the half.

The salary purge and roster revamping of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks continued Thursday when they sent forward Andrew Ladd to the Atlanta Thrashers.The move came a day after the Hawks traded versatile forward Kris Versteeg to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last week, they dealt popular playoff star Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager to Atlanta and shipped Colin Fraser to Edmonton.

“We’ve had a strategy in place going back a long time knowing the salary cap is part of our game and it’s going to cause us to have to make some moves,” general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday.

“We’ve had a plan in place and been able to accomplish exactly what we set out to do from the very beginning. We’ve shown we can embrace change when necessary. In this case, it was necessary to make moves to make sure we are reloaded for the future.”

For Ladd, who was a restricted free agent, the Blackhawks acquired defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a second round pick in 2011.The 24-year-old Ladd has played on two Stanley Cup winners in his young career. He came to the Blackhawks from Carolina in a 2008 trade for center Tuomo Ruutu.Ladd missed the first three games of the Finals and then returned for the last three while playing with a fractured shoulder and torn ligaments against the Flyers. He was also on a Stanley Cup winner with Carolina in 2006.Bowman said he talked with Ladd’s agent but no deal could be reached.

“It became apparent that it wasn’t the right mix in terms of salary and our situation here,” Bowman said. “But I certainly wished him well. He was a big part of it and a great kid, but we had to do what we had to do going forward. .. We know what our situation was and we made the move that gives us the most flexibility both in the summer and as we go into next season.”

Ladd had 37 goals and 62 assists in 184 regular-season games over parts of three seasons with the Blackhawks, including 17 goals and 21 assists last season.In 36 playoff games for the Hawks over the past two seasons, he had six goals and four assists.Vishnevskiy, 22, had two assists in five games with the Dallas Stars over the past two seasons. He spent most of last season in the American Hockey League with the Texas Stars and Wolves. He was acquired by the Thrashers(the Wolves Parent team) from the Stars last February.Bowman said he’d talked briefly with the agent for pricey backup goalie Cristobal Huet, who just finished the second year of a four-year, $22.45 million contract. Huet was beaten out by first-year goalie Antti Niemi, who is a restricted free agent the Blackhawks plan on re-signing, as is young defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.Bowman said the Blackhawks could also be players in the free agent market. Their flurry of moves, he said, gives them a young surrounding cast of prospects for the team’s core that includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith, all of whom have-long term deals.

NOTES—Another less than sellout crowd was announced at 36,880…..Ryan Dempster(6-6)faces Bronson Arroyo(7-4)Friday afternoon in game two of the series.

LES