Kevin Youkilis insists this strong run has nothing to do with his old team. It’s all about the White Sox now, and the AL Central leaders are sure glad to have the veteran third baseman in their lineup.Youkilis backed Gavin Floyd with a two-run homer and the White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Saturday for their fifth consecutive win.Floyd (7-8) allowed four hits and walked two in 7 2/3 innings while improving to 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA in his last four starts. The 6-foot-6 right-hander received a standing ovation when he left in the eighth.The White Sox are a season-high 10 games over .500 and have won a season-best seven straight at home.Ricky Romero (8-4) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings for the Blue Jays, who have lost three straight.Romero made one big mistake, and it was a costly one.With two out in the fifth inning and Alexei Ramirez on first, Youkilis drove Romero’s 1-1 pitch over the wall in center for his seventh homer of the season and No. 3 since he was acquired in a trade with the Red Sox.

“It’s hard to say you expect it, but you like having guys on base and you like him in tough situations because he just continues to find the right pitch and just battle,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.

Youkilis has produced the go-ahead RBI in five of his last six games. Saturday’s drive sent Romero to his third consecutive loss.

“The 1-1 pitch where he’s trying to go in on Youkilis, he misfires across the plate and it cost him two runs, and ultimately the ballgame,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “But his mound presence, his demeanor, body language all that was very good, and I thought he attacked the zone with confidence.”

With his clutch hitting and strong play at third base, Youkilis has quickly become a fan favorite in his first homestand with his new club. The familiar “Yooouk” salute that was once a fixture at Fenway Park is quickly becoming a regular occurrence at U.S. Cellular Field.

“You can be popular one week then a bomb the next,” Youkilis said. “The game is crazy and you just have to keep grinding it out. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low, you just try to stay in the middle.”

Youkilis is blocking out all talk that he has something to prove to his former team.

“Hey, this has nothing to do with the Red Sox,” he said. “I play for the White Sox, I’m here to play for the White Sox.”

With closer Addison Reed getting the day off, Matt Thornton got four outs for his second save of the season. Jose Bautista hit a one-out drive in the ninth that left fielder Dayan Viciedo lost in the sun, but the White Sox recovered in time to cut down the All-Star slugger trying for a triple.

“That play’s right in front of him,” Farrell said. “Down two with one out and Edwin [Encarnacion] coming up, he was trying to generate something. It took a bang-bang relay throw, they executed it and it didn’t work.”

Bautista argued the call with third base umpire Derryl Cousins, but quickly left the field.Brett Lawrie led off the game with a single, but Floyd did not allow another hit until J.P. Arencibia led off the sixth with a single. Arencibia was quickly retired on Lawrie’s double-play ball.Floyd entered with an 0-5 record and a 7.26 career ERA against the Blue Jays.

“He was so super aggressive, which is something we’ve been harping on a while,” White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “It was nice to see and it was nice for him to get the results he got.”

NOTES—Youkilis has 13 RBI in 12 games since joining the White Sox…..Ventura said Chris Sale will pitch no more than one inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Sale is 10-2 with a 2.19 ERA in his first season as a starter. The White Sox are closely monitoring Sale’s workload…..Farrell set his rotation for the second half. Romero will start Friday, followed by Aaron Laffey, Carlos Villanueva, Henderson Alvarez and Brett Cecil…..Lawrie left in the sixth inning with lower back tightness.

NEW YORK—Ike Davis provided more evidence that his early season struggles are receding. Dillon Gee was as good as he’s been all year.Davis homered and Gee pitched one-run ball for eight innings to help the New York Mets beat the Cubs 3-1 Saturday and set themselves up to go into the All-Star break on a positive note.Gee (6-7) gave up seven hits without a walk and struck out four to keep up a run of strong starts by Mets pitchers. They’ve gone at least six innings in 19 of the past 21 games, during which they an ERA of 3.16.

“He was really good today,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “That’s the Dillon Gee we’ve seen.”

Bobby Parnell allowed a leadoff double to Anthony Rizzo, but retired the final three batters for his second save, striking out Steve Clevenger on a 101 mph fastball to end it.One batter earlier, shortstop Ruben Tejada helped out Parnell by ranging into left field to catch Bryan LaHair’s blooper, tumbling to the grass as the Citi Field crowd let out a roar.

“I didn’t think he was going to get to it, but I’ll tell you, big-time players make big-time plays and that was a big-time play,” Collins said. “He just showed right there that he can play with the elite at shortstop.”

Jeff Samardzija had another strong outing for the Cubs after a bad month. Before he won last Sunday, the right-hander hadn’t had a start longer than 5 1/3 innings since May 29. He went 1-4 in six starts since then. On Saturday, Samardzija (6-8) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings for his second straight quality start.

“Yeah, I mean, he did great,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “The last two outings before the break, you know, he pitched really, really good. So the confidence level, like I said before, is definitely going into the second half with a good frame of mind.”

Samardzija hit into a double play on a bunt attempt in the third. With one out in the third, he dropped the ball right in front of the plate trying to sacrifice Luis Valbuena to second. Mets catcher Josh Thole pounced on the ball and threw to Tejada to get Valbuena. Tejada fired to first to get Samardzija, who was a star wide receiver at Notre Dame.Davis’ two-run homer to right that bounced off the facing of the second deck in the third inning and Jordany Valdespin’s solo shot in the second were enough for the Mets to win for the seventh time in 10 games.After a miserable start this season that had Collins answering questions about sending him to the minors, Davis has seven homers and 28 RBI in his past 24 games. He still sits sometimes against tough left-handed pitchers, as he did the night before. But he played a central role in the Mets’ near comeback that night, with a two-run pinch-hit single that got New York to within a run before a game-ending double play.He has 12 homers and 49 RBI this season, and has brought his average up to .204.

“At one point this year, I was glad to be over a hundred,” Davis said. “It’s amazing to me that I am hitting .200 and I have that many RBI.”

Although it might be asking a lot to have Davis’ average ever look pretty this season, the first baseman is on pace for nearly 25 homers and 100 RBI — valuable enough for a corner player in the NL.

“I’ll take those homers and RBI,” Collins said. “Especially with his defense, because he brings something else to the table that’s hard to replace.”

The Cubs, who have won eight of their past 12 games only had three hits through the first five innings against Gee a day after they had a season-high 18. They finally broke through in the sixth, when Valbuena hit a leadoff double and David DeJesus drove him in with one out. But Chicago still stranded two more runners that inning and couldn’t do anything else against Gee.

Gee had an extra day of rest before Saturday’s start, something that hasn’t always been beneficial. He was 1-5 with a 5.87 ERA this season with more than normal rest. The right-hander produced one of his best starts of the year Saturday, though. His previous longest had been 7 1/3 innings, and he tied a season-low with only one earned run.

“I think I’ve pitched better than my record would show,” Gee said. “I feel like I’m pitching better this season.”

Last year, Gee won eight of his first nine decisions before finishing 13-6. This season, he’s demonstrating the folly of relying on a pitcher’s record to determine his quality, getting more strikeouts, with far fewer walks.

“I can’t really explain the 8-1 [start] last year,” Gee said. “I’ve been a lot more consistent this year.”

NOTES—New York LHP Johan Santana twisted his left ankle in Friday’s game, but the Mets expect him to be ready to start their first game after the All-Star break…..Starlin Castro was back in the lineup after a day off. He spent the game next to Sveum, who wanted to go over game situations with Castro, who had made some mental mistakes this season and last. Sveum didn’t say what questions he posed to the young shortstop, but said of Castro’s answers: “They were good.”….The Mets celebrated Chinese-American heritage day with opera, kung fu and live musical performances. They also displayed the flag of the People’s Republic of China on the scoreboard.

Jake Peavy found two things he had really been missing — run support and a victory — and helped the first-place White Sox improve to a season-best nine games over .500.Peavy ended a personal four-game losing streak and earned his first win since May 26 by pitching one-run ball into the eighth as the White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Friday night.

“It’s a whole different feeling, I promise you that,” Peavy said. “When you get a lead in a ballgame as a starting pitcher, it changes the whole way you go about things. I know it shouldn’t. … You know you have room to wiggle a little bit. You are more aggressive and it’s just nice.”

Peavy (7-5) was 0-4 in his previous four starts — throwing two complete games — when the Sox scored only two total runs during those losses.The White Sox got three runs in the fifth Friday night with the help of two Toronto errors and A.J. Pierzynski hit his 16th homer in the sixth as the Sox won their fourth straight.

“He could have nine, 10, 11 wins right now if we could’ve scored some runs for him,” Pierzynski said. “But it just seems like every time he pitches, we haven’t been able to get a hit or drive a guy in or whatever it is. Tonight, we didn’t do a great job of it, but we got enough hits and scored enough runs because he pitched well enough to get the win.”

Peavy allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings, walked two and struck out seven. He threw 115 pitches left to a big ovation after retiring the leadoff hitter in the eighth. Game-time temperature was 91.

“I wasn’t on top of my game by any means, but we battled,” Peavy said. “There’s no doubt, it’s hot. I threw very little in the bullpen. I didn’t even wear the clothes I was going to pitch in to warm up in simply because the humidity and the heat. But playing in it, you get accustomed to it.”

Addison Reed earned his 13th save in 14 chances despite giving up a run in the ninth. He walked leadoff hitter Edwin Encarnacion, gave up a single to Adam Lind and a sacrifice fly to Yunel Escobar before getting Rajai Davis to ground into a game-ending double play.Lind hit his seventh homer in the second to give Toronto and lefty Aaron Laffey the early lead before the White Sox got three in the fifth with the aid of two Blue Jays errors.Alexei Ramirez, Gordon Beckham and Kevin Youkilis had RBI in the fifth inning, and Pierzynski made it a three-run cushion with his 16th homer in the sixth. Laffey (0-1) yielded eight hits and four runs — three earned — in six innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

“He keeps the game under control, throws a lot of strikes, doesn’t get rattled in certain situations and is not going to pitch away from contact,” Toronto manager John Farrell said of Laffey. “They were able to bunch some hits together in that fifth inning, and we contributed with some of the defense, but overall he’s done a good job for us.”

Dayan Viciedo led off the fifth with a double and scored on Ramirez’s single. Ramirez made it to second on the throw and went to third when Toronto left fielder Davis’ toss sailed over the head of catcher J.P. Arencibia for an error.Beckham then followed with a bloop single to left between three defenders to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead and made second when third baseman Brett Lawrie made an errant flip attempt to Davis, hoping to get the ball back to the infield. Beckham advanced to third on a fly ball and scored an RBI single by Youkilis. It was Youkilis’ seventh RBI in the four-game homestand, his first with the White Sox since a trade from Boston last month.

“We didn’t help our cause here tonight,” Farrell said. “I thought we hit some balls against Peavy fairly hard. Didn’t find a hole, but he did a very good job against us. Not many opportunities. He pretty much kept us in check.”

NOTES—Phil Humber, on the DL with a strained elbow, made a rehab start Friday night, pitching for Triple-A Charlotte. He gave up five hits, including a homer, and two runs in four innings. … Pierzynski is two homers shy of matching his career high of 18 set in 2005. … The Blue Jays are 24-10 against the White Sox since 2008.

NEW YORK—Carlos Marmol’s high-wire act almost undid a game the Cubs ultimately won behind two young players full of promise.Anthony Rizzo hit a three-run homer and Travis Wood won his fourth straight start, but not until after Marmol caught a line drive and started a game-ending double play that blunted the New York Mets’ bid for another ninth-inning comeback, giving the Cubs an 8-7 victory Friday night.

“It was getting interesting but he pulled it off,” Wood said.

Mets star Johan Santana was tagged for a career high-tying 13 hits in only 4 2/3 innings.A night after they got two runs with two outs in the ninth to beat Philadelphia closer Jonathan Papelbon, the Mets scored three times off a wild Marmol. But with runners at first and second, Lucas Duda hit a liner up the middle that Marmol speared and flipped to first for the final out.Reed Johnson led off the game with a homer, had four hits of the Cubs season-high 18 hits and scored three runs. Rizzo, the Cubs’ most hyped prospect this season, singled in the eighth for the first four-hit game of his big league career.Rizzo and Wood were both acquired in trades before the season by new Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.The Cubs, whose 32-51 record is half a game from the NL cellar, could trade Marmol, who lost his closing job once already earlier this season and has been no stranger to shaky outings. He has 28 walks in 25 2/3 innings, though he has been better recently than he was to start the season.The same could be said of the Cubs, who are 7-3 since Rizzo was called up June 26 — in a game against the Mets.

“For 10 games, he’s been pretty good,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “To sit on pitches like he does, and have an educated guess like he does is impressive.”

Rizzo and Jeff Baker each homered in a five-run fifth inning that made it 7-2. The Cubs held on to win for the eighth time in 11 games and sent the Mets to their third loss in nine games.

“It was awesome, right from Reed Johnson’s home run,” Rizzo said. “And it carried over. Hitting is contagious no matter where you are.”

Wood (4-3) allowed two earned runs and was removed after walking pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin to start the seventh.

“I don’t think he had the stuff he’s had the last few,” Sveum said. “He definitely didn’t have the stuff he’s had in the past.”

Marmol had a rocky ninth. Entering with a four-run lead, he gave up a solo homer to Valdespin with one out, then walked Ruben Tejada, pinch hitter Daniel Murphy and David Wright to load the bases.Pinch-hitter Ike Davis followed with a single, bringing up Duda. Marmol’s quick reflexes saved the Cubs.In the fifth, Santana fell awkwardly while trying to cover first base on an infield grounder by Johnson. Preparing to take the throw from first baseman Justin Turner, Santana reached out with his foot and apparently got stepped on, then couldn’t handle the toss with his bare hand and fell on his side. He took two warmup pitches and remained in the game, but gave up two homers and four more singles after that.

“Obviously, command of his fastball went awry,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He said it wasn’t his foot. He told me afterward his foot was fine. He just didn’t make his pitches after that.”

Santana (6-5) left after Luis Valbuena’s RBI single. Valbuena was thrown out trying to take second and Wood was coming to the plate with two outs, but Collins pulled him anyway.Johnson’s grounder to start the fifth was ruled a single, and Santana allowed another single to Darwin Barney before Rizzo’s drive. One out later, Baker hit a solo shot and then Geovany Soto, Joe Mather and Valbuena singled.The Mets went ahead 2-1 on Duda’s solo homer in the second and Ronny Cedeno’s RBI double in the third.Mike Nickeas added a sacrifice fly in the sixth for an unearned run against Wood. Alfonso Soriano tacked on a run with a bases-loaded bloop single in the eighth to make it 8-3. Turner hit an RBI single in the eighth for his fourth hit of the game.

NOTES—Sveum says Ryan Dempster will start Sunday, and be limited to 70-80 pitches. The right-hander is on the DL because of a tight back muscle….. Starlin Castro did not start for the first time this season. Sveum said he wanted to watch the game and discuss scenarios with the young star, who has been prone to mental gaffes in the field….Johnson’s last leadoff homer also came off Santana — July 23, 2007, when Johnson played for the Blue Jays and Santana for the Twins….Collins said OF Jason Bay would take batting practice, run, and do “some defensive stuff” as he tries to come back from his second concussion. He also missed six weeks this season with a broken rib, and is hitting .187 with four HRs and six RBI in 22 games this season…..New York wore blue jerseys trimmed in orange with “Los Mets” on the front, a rare departure from the home whites this season…..Santana last allowed 13 hits on July 28, 2010 against St. Louis…..Rizzo has reached base safely in all 10 Cubs games he’s played in this season.

You might need a separate roster to keep track of all the rookies playing for the White Sox. There are 10 of them right now, nearly half of the clubhouse, and their contributions have been pivotal.Without first-year standouts such as Jose Quintana and Addison Reed, the White Sox might not be on top in the AL Central.Quintana pitched brilliantly for eight innings in searing heat and the White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 to complete a three-game sweep Thursday in the meeting of division leaders. Reed got the final three outs for his 12th save in 13 chances just as a thunderstorm was hitting U.S. Cellular Field.Veteran Kevin Youkilis, meanwhile, continued his tear with a go-ahead homer off All-Star Matt Harrison and played a key role in the entire series.

“I just drank a lot of water for sure and tried to stay hydrated,” said Quintana, who allowed only two hits in a game that started at 99 degrees and elevated to 102 by the fourth inning. “And the other thing was not trying to rush the game. I wanted to make sure I had quality pitches I was throwing.”

Bouncing back from a rough outing against the New York Yankees, Quintana (4-1) walked one and struck out a career-high eight. He gave up a leadoff single to Ian Kinsler in the first and an RBI single to Adrian Beltre in the fourth on a line drive that hit the left-hander on the left thigh and bounded past first. He wasn’t hurt and didn’t give up another hit.Quintana and Harrison worked quickly despite the sweltering conditions. The game was played in only two hours, nine minutes.With four pitchers on the DL, including starters John Danks and Phil Humber, the 23-year-old Quintana’s performance has been crucial, especially after he pitched most of the first two months in Double-A. He is now 3-0 over his last five starts.

“He has a great feel on the mound, great stuff. He’s more mature than you would think,” Robin Ventura said. “We’re lucky in the situation we’re in with Johnny going down; he was there to pick it up and pitch the way he has.”

The loss was the fourth straight for the two-time AL champion Rangers, matching their longest skid of the season. Texas came into the series with the best record in the majors.

“We’re in first place in the West. That’s where we are,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “That’s what this series told us. We lost three ballgames, but we’re in first place in the West.”

Youkilis took Harrison deep in the sixth to break a 1-all tie, his sixth homer of the season and second since joining the White Sox in a trade from Boston last month. He’s had quite a first homestand with his new team. He homered and had four RBIs in Tuesday night’s opener and delivered a winning single and two stellar defensive plays at third on Wednesday.

“I haven’t gotten too good of a feel for it yet,” Youkilis said of U.S. Cellular, his new home park. “Hopefully the ball keeps jumping. We got guys with a lot of power, so hopefully it plays into that.”

It was the first homer Harrison had allowed since June 3 and Thursday was his sixth start since that outing against the Angels. Harrison (11-4) gave up eight hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts in eight innings, getting the complete game. He had won his previous seven decisions.

“More humidity here, so it was pretty miserable out there. Trying to have as quick of innings as possible, except for the one,” Harrison said. “I was able to get us back in the dugout pretty quick and get the guys out of the heat. It was a really quick game. I’m sure nobody wanted to be out there, but we have to do it, so you might as well make the best of it, I guess.”

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on the two-out RBI single by Beltre when his liner struck Quintana near the left hip and ricocheted past Youkilis at first. Kinsler, who had walked and moved to second on a grounder, scored on the play.The Sox got it back in the bottom half as a walk and two singles loaded the bases before Alexei Ramirez hit an RBI grounder that Beltre made a nice play on while diving to his left. Dayan Viciedo then walked to re-load the bases before Harrison fanned Tyler Flowers.

NOTES—Rangers RHP Yu Darvish won the Final Vote from the fans and will represent the AL in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, giving Texas eight All-Stars. Jake Peavy was also a finalist…..Announced attendance was 21,288 and many of the fans in the upper deck sat under the overhang to stay in the shade.

ATLANTA — While the Atlanta Braves wore down Matt Garza with home runs and long at-bats, Mike Minor put together a confidence booster heading into the All-Star break.Jason Heyward and Brian McCann each hit a two-run homer in the first inning, helping Minor and the Braves beat the Cubs 7-3 on Thursday night.Freddie Freeman and Juan Francisco also connected for Atlanta, which salvaged a split of the four-game series.Minor (5-6) held the Cubs without a hit until the fifth and gave up three runs, two earned, and three hits in 6 1/3 innings overall. The left-hander has won consecutive starts after losing two in a row.

“He made his pitches when he needed to,” McCann said.

Minor entered with an ugly 6.20 ERA after giving up four runs in each of his last three starts, putting his rotation spot in jeopardy.

“Every week I’m trying to get better,” Minor said.

Due to Minor’s struggles, manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked before the game if he needed a good start to protect his place in the rotation. Gonzalez said “every start is important” but said Thursday night’s game wasn’t especially crucial for Minor.Gonzalez said after the game Minor should “go into the All-Star break feeling good about himself.”

Garza (4-7), who could be one of the top starters on the market ahead of this month’s trade deadline, allowed five runs and five hits in four innings. He struck out six and walked three while throwing 94 pitches.Garza struck out Michael Bourn in the first, but the inning quickly unraveled from there.Martin Prado hit a one-out single before Heyward drove a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right for his 14th homer. Freeman then singled to right and McCann sent another 1-2 offering over the wall in right for his 10th of the season.Francisco ended the inning with a 16-pitch at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch until he finally hit a bouncer to first base.

“A couple pitches hit out of the ballpark and then the 16-pitch at-bat to Francisco kind of killed the whole outing, really,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.

Garza threw 44 pitches in the inning.

“I don’t think he ever recovered from it,” Gonzalez said.

Francisco added another long at-bat in the fourth. He made Garza throw 12 pitches before taking a walk.

“Two at-bats. We kind of got tired of him,” Sveum said of Francisco. “Move on to the next guy.”

Garza downplayed the effect of Francisco’s long at-bats on his short night.

“That’s just an at-bat,” Garza said. “That’s all it is. He battled, I battled. I won the first one, he won the second one. That’s all it is.”

Freeman had a solo shot in the third and Francisco went deep in the eighth against Manny Corpas.Atlanta went 5-5 on its longest homestand of the season.The Cubs’ first hit off Minor was a homer by Geovany Soto with one out in the fifth.

“I wasn’t really all that worried about the home run,” Minor said. “I was trying to throw strikes. McCann set up in the middle and [Soto] hit it.”

The Braves answered Soto’s shot with a run off Scott Maine in the bottom half. Prado singled, moved to third on Heyward’s single and scored on McCann’s fly ball to right field.

Anthony Rizzo led off the seventh with a single off Minor, who then walked Alfonso Soriano. Minor struck out Bryan LaHair before he was replaced by Kris Medlen.Pinch-hitter Reed Johnson delivered a two-out RBI single and Heyward made a wild throw to third base for an error, allowing Soriano to score.There is new reason for Minor, Randall Delgado and perhaps other Atlanta starting pitchers to be wary. The Braves recently signed four-time All-Star Ben Sheets, who had mixed results for Double-A Mississippi in his first minor league start on Wednesday night. He gave up four runs in five innings but retired the last 10 batters he faced.

NOTES—The Braves placed LHP Jonny Venters on the 15-day disabled list with a left elbow impingement. The team recalled LHP Luis Avilan from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Bourn finished second to David Freese of St. Louis in online voting for a spot on the NL All-Star team…..Prado has an 11-game hitting streak…..Sveum said he will announce Friday if Ryan Dempster will come off the disabled list to start on Sunday against the Mets. Dempster has been on the 15-day DL since June 18 with tightness in his right lat muscle….Atlanta opens a three-game series at Philadelphia on Friday night with Tim Hudson (6-4) facing the Phillies’ Kyle Kendrick (2-8)…..The Cubs are at the Mets on Friday night with Travis Wood looking for his fourth win against New York’s Johan Santana.

Kevin Youkilis has been making his presence felt in the White Sox lineup with his relentless, patient approach at the plate.Youkilis hit a game-ending RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the White Sox a 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.In the 10th inning, Alejandro De Aza, who fouled a ball off his right knee during the at-bat, led off the inning with a walk against Rangers reliever Mike Adams (1-3) then stole second. On the ninth pitch after working back from an 0-2 count, Youkilis ended the game with an RBI single to score De Aza and prompting the crowd to shout “Youuuuk!” for the player acquired in a trade from the Red Sox on June 24.

“For me you try to describe to people the importance of Youk coming over. That at-bat really describes it the best, he is 0-2, he is grinding and it’s just continuous and that is the kind of stuff is infectious throughout the lineup for us, just grinding out at-bats,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “It’s good for everybody to see that. We have a lot of young guys. It’s good for them to see it, but it shows just how good of a player he is.”

In his first two games in Chicago, Youkilis is becoming as popular as he was in Boston.

“I’m having a great time with this team,” Youkilis said. “It’s always a lot more fun when you do stuff like that.”

Youkilis was 3 for 6 with a home run and four RBI in Tuesday’s win.

” I had a little rut baseball-wise and statistically and a funk and hopefully this will be a thing where I can keep going forward and playing better ball,” Youkilis said.

The White Sox have won six of their last eight games.Josh Hamilton homered for the Rangers, who had won their previous seven series.

“I know they got pitching and I know we got pitching, and the pitching showed up,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “When you pitch there won’t be any good hitting and that’s the way it is. We had opportunities and we just didn’t cash them in.”

Addison Reed (2-1) pitched a scoreless 10th for the White Sox.After a 19-2 drubbing by the White Sox on Tuesday, the Rangers scored three runs in the first inning off White Sox starter Dylan Axelrod. With two outs, Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hit back-to-back singles. Then Michael Young snapped an 0 for 13 skid with a two-run double and scored on Cruz’s RBI single. Axelrod threw 25 pitches in 97-degree heat in the first inning.
The White Sox came right back and scored four runs to take the lead. With one out in the second, Alex Rios doubled to right off Rangers starter Scott Feldman. Feldman then hit A.J. Pierzynski with a pitch. Dayan Viciedo followed with an RBI single, then Alexei Ramirez lined a single to right. Right fielder David Murphy’s throw short-hopped to catcher Mike Napoli.Although he was in front of the plate and in position to tag Pierzynski out, Napoli got barreled over by Pierzynski and lost the ball. Gordon Beckham added a two-run double.

“It was better [after the second inning]. Giving up the four spot right there after we put up three wasn’t the ideal situation, but I was able to make better pitches after that. Second inning I was just kind of leaving the ball up and they were put the bat on the ball and find some holes,” said Feldman.

Hamilton led off the third with his 26th home run of the season to tie the game at four.Axelrod rebounded after a rough first inning to pitch 5 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits.Feldman pitched six innings and allowed four runs on six hits.Before to the game, the Rangers announced that Yu Darvish will not make his final scheduled start of the first half as the Texas Rangers attempt to get him some extra rest in his first season in the majors.Both the team and Darvish said Wednesday there is nothing physically wrong with the 25-year-old right-hander.Darvish was scheduled to start Friday, but rookie Martin Perez will take his place.

NOTES—Before the game, the White Sox placed right-hander reliever Jesse Crain on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to June 24. The White Sox recalled RHP Deunte Heath from Triple-A Charlotte to replace Crain…..Pierzynski caught his 1,500th career game, most among active catchers and 30th in major league history…..Rangers SS Elvis Andrus made a nice diving stop and threw out Rios at first in the eighth inning…..Ramirez’s dad, Armando threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Alexei. Armando and his wife Edith saw their son Alexei play for the first time in five years, since Alexei left Cuba in 2007 to play for the White Sox.

ATLANTA—Dale Sveum had a blunt appraisal for the Cubs’ play in the first half of the season and a simple plan for better results.Sveum said the Cubs can improve by taking care of such basics as throwing strikes and hitting with runners were in scoring position.A few homers also help.Bryan LaHair, Jeff Baker and Anthony Rizzo hit home runs, Paul Maholm threw six strong innings and the Cubs continued success against Atlanta by beating the Braves 5-1 on Wednesday night.Paul Maholm (6-6) gave up one run on eight hits in six innings. He had only one walk with five strikeouts.The Cubs (31-50) are in last place in the NL Central but have won seven of their last nine and are only one-half game behind fifth-place Houston at the midpoint of the 162-game schedule.

“When you’re 20 games under .500, you’ve obviously underachieved,” Sveum said.

The Cubs have played like a contender against the Braves, winning two of the first three games in the four-game series after winning two of three in Chicago on May 7-9.

“Obviously, we’ve played some good games against them,” Maholm said.

Maholm, a Mississippi native, said he enjoys pitching in Atlanta. He is 3-1 against the Braves in his career, including 2-0 this season.

“Obviously, I grew up a Braves fan,” Maholm said. “I grew up watching Chipper [Jones] and [Tom] Glavine and [Greg] Maddux.”It’s hot and humid, what I grew up pitching in. I can’t say I don’t enjoy coming here.”

The Braves, third in the NL East, fell 6 games behind first-place Washington.Rizzo’s homer off Anthony Varvaro in the eighth was his second of the series and third overall since his recall from Triple-A Iowa on June 26.Randall Delgado (4-9) allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in six-plus innings. Delgado has lost four straight decisions.James Russell gave up only a walk in two scoreless innings behind Maholm. Carlos Marmol pitched a perfect ninth.Jones, who had five hits in the Braves’ 10-3 win on Tuesday night, had a first-inning single to give him hits in six straight at-bats and a season-best 11-game hitting streak. Jones added a sixth-inning single and advanced to second when Maholm hit Freddie Freeman with a pitch. With two outs, Jones was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Alfonso Soriano as he tried to score from second on a single by David Ross.The Cubs scored in the first inning on a delayed double-steal. Starlin Castro, who walked, moved to third on Rizzo’s single. Castro scored from third when Braves catcher David Ross threw Rizzo out trying to steal second.Bourn tripled in the third and scored on Martin Prado’s infield single.LaHair’s 14th homer in the fourth gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead. The NL All-Star had two hits and a walk.The Cubs added two runs in the seventh against Delgado and Jonny Venters. Darwin Barney doubled, moved to third on Luis Valbuena’s groundout and scored on Delgado’s wild pitch. Venters gave up a pinch-hit homer to Baker.Venters has allowed six homers in 32 innings this season after giving up only three in 171 innings in 2010 and 2011 combined. Venters’ ERA is 4.45 and he no longer serves as closer Craig Kimbrel’s primary setup man.Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said solving Venters’ slump is crucial to the team’s hopes for contending. Gonzalez said Venters doesn’t have to be as dominant as in 2011, when he had six wins, nine saves and a 1.84 ERA.Freeman almost tumbled into the Braves’ dugout in the eighth as he leaned over the railing to catch Soriano’s foul ball. Freeman’s feet were in the air after he made the catch before his teammates stopped him from flipping.Atlanta’s Jason Heyward grimaced in apparent pain following a swing in the eighth inning. He remained in the game and said it was just a cramp.

NOTES—Attendance was 40,604. … Cubs RHP Ryan Dempster had his second bullpen session in three days and could come off the disabled list to start on Sunday against the Mets. Dempster has been on the 15-day DL since June 18 with tightness in his right lat muscle. … The Braves released RHP D.J. Carrasco from Triple-A Gwinnett. Carrasco was signed to a minor league contract on June 20. … Prado has a 10-game hitting streak. … The four-game series ends Thursday with Atlanta’s Mike Minor facing Chicago’s Matt Garza.

Kevin Youkilis wasted little time introducing himself to the crowd at U.S. Cellular Field.Youkilis connected in his first at-bat in his new home, starting a three-homer barrage in the opening inning against Roy Oswalt and sending the White Sox to a 19-2 rout of the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.Cries of “Youk, Youk, Youk” soon began to ring out across the stadium. And Youkilis finished with three hits and four RBI, helping All-Star Chris Sale sail to his 10th victory behind the Sox highest-scoring game of the season.

“It was awesome,” said Youkilis, recently acquired from Boston. “People caught on real quick to the chants of ‘Youk’ when you get up there. It was cool just to feel at home again.”

Adam Dunn followed Youkilis’ two-run shot with his 25th home run of the season and one out later Alex Rios hit his 11th to make it 4-0 lead. In a matchup of division leaders, the White Sox finished with 21 hits, tying a season high.

“This team is built to win, and we’ve just got to do that. I think if we pitch well and play good defense, we don’t need to score 19 runs a game to do that,” Youkilis said.

A.J. Pierzynski, not chosen for the AL All-Star team managed by Texas skipper Ron Washington, hit a three-run homer off reliever Yoshinori Tateyama- his 15th of the season — to cap a nine-run fifth inning and make it 16-0. Seven of the runs in the inning were unearned, thanks to an error on Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler. Pierzynski insisted he was not trying to make a statement.

“It’s over and done with. There is nothing I can do, nothing I can say that is going to change anything. That’s it,” Pierzynski said. “It was just nice to win because the Rangers have been the best team all year in the American League.”

Sale (10-2) is 7-0 in his past nine starts and hasn’t lost since May 12. The lanky lefty will likely not pitch again before the break and then be available for the All-Star Game in a week. He allowed five hits and was charged with a run in 7 1/3 innings, but his job was made easier by the offense.

“It was like an explosion went off. It was fun to watch. I’d like to sit here and point out who did what, but through the lineup up and down, everyone swung the bat outstanding,” Sale said. “To get that kind of run support, I’ve said it before, it kind of calms you down and you just go about your business and everything will take care of itself.”

Elvis Andrus hit a two-run double in the eighth off reliever Brian Omogrosso after the White Sox had built a 19-0 lead. Oswalt (2-1) was pounded for 13 hits and charged with 11 runs — nine earned — in 4 2/3 innings, throwing 112 pitches in his third start since joining the Rangers’ organization in May.

“When I missed over the plate, they hit it. I threw some quality pitches they took. First inning, I fought my mechanics a little bit, the ball was leaking back a little bit,” Oswalt said. “They hit pitches that were out over the plate. I’ve got to make quality pitches, I knew they would probably come out swinging.”

Alejandro De Aza tripled in the second and scored on Youkilis’ single. Dunn doubled home Youkilis and then scored on Paul Konerko’s single for a 7-0 lead. Youkilis came to the White Sox in a trade last month from Boston where he was a member of two World Series winners with the Red Sox.

“He brings a lot of stuff, not just being a good player but just his approach and the way he plays. It’s contagious,”Robin Ventura said. “He’s a pro and that’s one of the things in trading for a guy like him. You get a lot more than just numbers.”

Alexei Ramirez and Rios had two-run singles in the fifth before Pierzynski connected. The Rangers are still 50-31 halfway through the season, the best record through 81 games in team history. They’ve won 17 of their past 23 and still hold the best record in the majors, despite the lopsided defeat. The Rangers’ most-lopsided loss in team history was by 21 runs at Oakland in 2000 by the score of 23-2. Earlier this season they lost 21-8 to Seattle. Oswalt said he would put this outing behind him quickly.

“If you lose 1-0 or 10-0, you still lose,” he said. “Don’t really look at it that much.”

ATLANTA—Chipper Jones absorbed every moment of a performance he said he’ll cherish in retirement.The newly chosen All-Star, delivered his first five-hit game in a decade, driving in four runs Tuesday night and leading the Atlanta Braves past the Cubs 10-3. Jones was added to the NL All-Star roster before the game. The 40-year-old third baseman replaced injured Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp. He then played like an All-Star at the plate, on defense and with his first stolen base of the season. Jones, who plans to retire after this season, went 5 for 5 for his third career five-hit game and first since Aug. 11, 2002.

“Tonight was just one of those dream games,” Jones said. “I would be hard-pressed to find a game in which I played better.”

After his fifth hit, a single in the eighth inning, Jones was lifted for pinch runner Juan Francisco. Jones tipped his batting helmet as he received an ovation on his way to the dugout. He emerged from the dugout for another wave to the fans as the cheers continued.

“That was fun. That was a lot of fun,” Jones said. “It’s just another one to file in the memory bank from my last year. It has been pretty special to this point.”

Jones hit a three-run double in the sixth. He has a season-best 10-game hitting streak and is hitting .313.

“I don’t think that swing is ready to retire,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.

Jones added a defensive highlight in the eighth inning when he fielded Darwin Barney’s grounder behind third base and, while in foul territory, threw him out at first.

“Impressive,” Braves right-hander Jair Jurrjens said. “He stole the show today. He carried us.”

Jurrjens (2-2) gave up nine hits and three runs, all unearned, in five innings. Reliever Kris Medlen pitched three perfect innings. The Cubs led 3-1 before Michael Bourn hit a bases-loaded triple in Atlanta’s five-run fifth. Martin Prado’s sacrifice fly and Jason Heyward’s 13th homer in the inning pushed the Braves’ lead to 6-3, chasing Chris Volstad out of the game.Volstad (0-7) was promoted from Triple-A Iowa for the start. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.The loss left Volstad with 20 consecutive starts without a victory. It is the longest winless streak in the majors since Jo-Jo Reyes made 28 consecutive winless starts for the Braves and the Blue Jays from 2008-11.Volstad was winless in his last 11 starts with Florida in 2011 and hasn’t won in nine starts over two stints with the Cubs this season. Bourn walked in the first and scored when Jones’ single dropped in front of David DeJesus in center field. DeJesus dove and trapped the ball.Cubs relievers Rafael Dolis and Jairo Asencio combined to walk six batters in the sixth, helping the Braves score four runs on only one hit — Jones’ bases-loaded double to right field. Prado forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk from Asencio.The start of the game was delayed by rain for 52 minutes. Following the rain, the first-pitch temperature was 72 degrees, a drop of more than 20 degrees.

NOTES—Volstad’s last victory came on July 10, 2011 with Florida against Houston…..The Cubs optioned RHP Casey Coleman to Triple-A Iowa to clear a roster spot for Volstad. Coleman gave up seven earned runs, his career high as a reliever, in last Wednesday’s 17-1 loss to the Reds…..Braves RHP Randall Delgado will face Cubs LHP Paul Maholm as the series continues on Wednesday night. Maholm threw seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory against the Braves in Chicago on May 5.