SAN DIEGO—Clayton Richard,traded on two separated occasions by the White Sox, threw a five-hitter and the San Diego Padres swept the Cubs with a 2-0 win on Wednesday.Richard (9-11), coming off one of his better starts of the season, held the Cubs to five singles and pitched out of trouble three times to hand the Cubs their eighth straight loss.Richard struck out five, walked one and hit a batter as the Cubs had a runner reach third base three times.The Cubs scored four runs — all in Tuesday night’s 7-4 loss — and had 15 hits in the three-game series.San Diego’s runs came on Will Venable’s RBI double in the second inning and Yonder Alonso’s run-scoring single in the ninth.Richard has three career complete games and two shutouts.Jeff Samardzija (7-10) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked two.

SAN DIEGO—Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer, Ross Ohlendorf pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres ruined Brooks Raley’s major-league debut Tuesday night with a 7-4 victory against the floundering Cubs.Chase Headley and Everth Cabrera each drove in two runs for San Diego, which has won eight of 10 at home.The Cubs lost their seventh consecutive game and has been outscored 38-16 during the slide.Promoted from Triple-A Iowa, Raley (0-1) lasted four innings while allowing seven runs and eight hits. The left-hander had four strikeouts and three walks as a replacement for injured starter Matt Garza.Ohlendorf (4-2) gave up one unearned run and three hits in six-plus innings. He was pulled after Bryan LaHair reached on a two-base error by right fielder Chris Denorfia leading off the seventh. Huston Street, the fifth Padres reliever, pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save in as many chances. San Diego held the Cubs to five hits for the second successive night, including a 2-0 victory Monday. The Padres teed off on Raley, the Cubs’ sixth-round draft pick in 2009. Although there were only two baserunners in the first two innings, the rookie threw 37 pitches. Then in the third, Ohlendorf got things going with a leadoff single.After a walk to Denorfia and Logan Forsythe’s infield single loaded the bases, Headley lined a two-run single to center. After another walk loaded the bases again, Cabrera’s two-out single drove in two more runs. Raley ran into more trouble in the fourth when he allowed a pair of singles with two outs. He then hung an off-speed pitch that Quentin hit for a three-run homer to left. Quentin is 9 for 18 with four home runs and nine RBI against the Cubs this season. The Cubs scored in the fifth on consecutive two-out doubles by Luis Valbuena and Darwin Barney.The Cubs rallied in the seventh after LaHair reached on Denorfia’s error and scored on Steve Clevenger’s single off Brad Boxberger. Barney was hit by a pitch with one out before rookie Josh Vitters hit a two-run double for his first major-league hit.Cubs rookie Brett Jackson, who struck out four times Monday night, whiffed three more times Tuesday. In his first 11 major-league at-bats, Jackson has fanned eight times.

NOTES—Raley became the 15th rookie to play for the Cubs this season and the eighth to make his major league debut. … Raley is the 46th player used this season by the Cubs, second-most in the majors to the Padres (49). .. Padres 1B Yonder Alonso did not start because of a sore hamstring. …Alfonso Soriano was scratched from the lineup due to swelling in his right hand. Soriano was spiked by Forsythe when he slid into second base in the sixth inning Monday night. … With Garza going on the DL, Chicago has just six players who were with the club to open the 2011 season. … Jeff Samardzija (7-9, 4.37 ERA) will oppose Padres LHP Clayton Richard (8-11, 4.01) on Wednesday in the series finale

Bruce Chen outpitched Jake Peavy for his first victory in six weeks, Billy Butler hit his career-high 22nd home run and the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox 5-2 on Tuesday night.The White Sox had won 10 of 13 but saw their lead over Detroit in the AL Central shrink to a half-game with the Tigers beating the New York Yankees 6-5 earlier in the night. Gordon Beckham hit his first career leadoff home run, and the White Sox scored again in the sixth after Kansas City tied it in the top half. But RBI singles by Tony Abreu and Alex Gordon off Peavy (9-8) in the seventh gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead. Butler added to it in the eighth with a two-run drive off Nate Jones after Mike Moustakas walked, and the Royals hung on from there, giving Chen (8-9) his first victory since June 26. The left-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings and finally came out on top after going 0-3 in his previous seven starts. Greg Holland retired the side in the ninth for his second save in four chances. Peavy also gave up seven hits in 6 2/3 innings but was a tough-luck loser after beating Minnesota in his previous two starts. He found his control after walking the game’s first two batters, issuing just one the rest of the way, but he couldn’t protect the lead after the White Sox went up 2-1. The Royals had runners on first and third with one out in the seventh after Jeff Francoeur reached on a bunt down the third-base line and Eric Hosmer singled. Abreu then tied it with a single to left, and although Hosmer got thrown out at third by Dayan Viciedo, the Royals weren’t finished. Jarrod Dyson just beat out a single to second after Gordon Beckham made a diving stop on his grounder, and Gordon then chased Peavy with a single to center that made it 3-2. Things were looking good for the White Sox in the early going. Beckham gave them the early lead with his drive to left-center in the first, after delivering the tiebreaking solo shot the previous night. He now has 11 home runs, and the recent power surge ended a drought that dated to June 20. The Royals finally got a run in the sixth when Gordon singled and scored on Moustakas’ sacrifice fly. Dunn put the White Sox ahead with an RBI single in the bottom half before Kansas City regained the lead.

NOTES—The only other White Sox player with a leadoff homer this season was Alejandro De Aza against Cleveland on April 9. … The White Sox scratched Kevin Youkilis from their lineup because of a sore right knee. Youkilis was penciled in to bat second and play third base. Instead, the White Sox inserted Ray Olmedo into the lineup at third and had him bat ninth while juggling several other spots in the order. … Jordan Danks got his second successive start in center field with De Aza bothered by tightness in his back. “I just want to get better,” De Aza said. “I’d rather lose two or three days instead of trying to play and it gets worse.” … Jeremy Guthrie goes for his first win as a Royal, while Jose Quintana starts for the White Sox on Wednesday. Guthrie is 0-3 with the Royals after going 3-9 with a 6.35 ERA in 15 starts and 19 appearances for Colorado. Quintana has four no-decisions since the All-Star break.

SAN DIEGO—Eric Stults and four relievers combined on a five-hitter, leading the San Diego Padres to a 2-0 victory against the slumping(again) Cubs on Monday night. Stults (2-2) allowed five hits as he pitched 5 1/3 innings in his first start since June 3. He struck out five, walked two and had a wild pitch. Yonder Alonso and Everth Cabrera each drove in a run and the Padres won for only the fourth time in 10 games. The Cubs lost their sixth straight. Brad Brach, Dale Thayer, Luke Gregerson and Huston Street combined for 3 2/3 innings of no-hit relief, finished San Diego’s seventh shutout. Street pitched the ninth for his 19th save.Carlos Quentin reached on a one-out double in the fourth inning and scored on Alonso’s single. After Cameron Maybin followed with a double, Alonso scored when Cabrera’s soft liner deflected off the glove of Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney for an infield single.The Cubs were not able to take advantage of the few scoring chances it had, going 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and stranding seven runners overall.Travis Wood (4-8) allowed two runs on five hits over six innings. The lefty struck out three and walked three with a wild pitch.The Cubs’ two prized prospects — Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters — both started and had tough nights.Jackson, who got two hits in his major league debut Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, struck out four times. Vitters, who also debuted Sunday as a pinch hitter, was 0 for 4, including a groundout to end the sixth inning with runners at second and third. Since his last start, Stults spent time on the disabled list with a strained left lat and made his last four appearances out of the bullpen. He was inserted into the rotation after Kip Wells was designated for assignment on Friday.

NOTES—Matt Garza (right elbow stress) was placed on the 15-day DL and will be out “indefinitely,” according to GM Jed Hoyer.. San Diego has won eight times in its last 10 home games.. Anthony Rizzo made his return to San Diego for the first time since the Padres dealt him for RHP Andrew Cashner in a four-player deal in January. Rizzo, who went 0 for 4, was the centerpiece for San Diego in the four-player deal when he was acquired from Boston for 1B Adrian Gonzalez before the 2011 season. But after his highly anticipated arrival in San Diego in June 2011, the lefty hit just .141 with one home run and nine RBIs in 128 at-bats. Asked before the game if spacious Petco Park had anything to do with his poor offensive showing, Rizzo said, “The ballpark could have been a T-ball field and I wouldn’t have hit the ball. I just wasn’t hitting the ball.”…. Brooks Raley will make his major league debut on Tuesday night against LHP Ross Ohlendorf (3-2, 6.27 ERA).

Chris Sale had time to catch his breath. Now, maybe, he’s locked in.Sale pitched eight solid innings, Paul Konerko and Gordon Beckham hit home runs late, and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Monday night.The margin for error is slim, with a 1½-game lead over Detroit for the AL Central lead. The Tigers are playing well, but so are the White Sox. And they pulled this one out thanks to a strong start by their pitcher and some big hits toward the end.Konerko tied it leading off the seventh and Beckham gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead with a solo shot in the eighth off Luis Mendoza. Kevin Youkilis added an RBI double in the inning, and the White Sox won for the 10th time in 13 games.A.J. Pierzynski added two hits, and although he didn’t go deep after tying a club record with home runs in five consecutive games, he did drive in the first run with a double in the second. Sale (13-3), meanwhile, looked sharp on nine days’ rest, allowing two runs and eight hits while striking out seven without a walk. He gave up solo homers to Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler, but otherwise kept the Royals off-balance, with his fastball consistently in the mid-90s mph.Sale was passed over during the last time through the rotation. The White Sox wanted to give him more rest in his first year as a starter.Addison Reed worked the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances, retiring Eric Hosmer on a double-play grounder with runners on first and second to end the game. Mendoza (5-8) gave up seven hits and four runs in 7 1/3 innings. Butler made it 2-1 in the seventh with his 21st home run. Konerko tied it in the bottom half with a line drive to left that just cleared the wall and landed in the bullpen.The Royals had runners on first and third in the eighth, but Sale got out of it. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez made a diving stop on Alex Gordon’s soft liner. Sale tagged out Tony Abreu trying to score on Alcides Escobar’s safety squeeze and struck out Lorenzo Cain on three pitches, pumping his left fist on the way to the dugout.

NOTES—White Sox LHP John Danks had surgery on his left shoulder on Monday, and the team expects him to be ready for the start of spring training. Danks’ arm is expected to be in a sling for a month. Doctors at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center repaired a capsule tear and removed debris in the rotator cuff and biceps….Robin Ventura said LHP Francisco Liriano sustained no real lingering effects after being struck in the right quadriceps by Maicer Izturis’ one-hopper in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Liriano left after five innings….Royals manager Ned Yost would not comment on a pregame meeting in the clubhouse. “It’s a meeting between us,” he said. “If I wanted you guys to be part of the meeting, I would have invited you.”….The Royals held 3B Mike Moustakas out of the lineup for the second successive game because of a lingering bone bruise on his right knee. He first hurt his knee on a fielding play in the first inning July 28 at Seattle….Gordon was back in the Kansas City lineup, leading off and playing left field, after sitting out his first game of the season on Sunday….Jake Peavy will start Tuesday, with Bruce Chen pitching for the Royals.

LOS ANGELES—The addition of Hanley Ramirez has invigorated the Los Angeles Dodgers.Ramirez lined an RBI single over a drawn-in infield in the ninth inning, and Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs with a seesaw 7-6 victory on Sunday. Los Angeles remains a half-game behind NL West-leading San Francisco and 3½ ahead of third-place Arizona.”We knew what we were getting when we got Hanley. He’s a very special player, someone who can definitely change a game and is a difference maker,” right fielder Andre Ethier said.

“So we’re pretty fortunate to have him come over here for the rest of the season and two more years. It adds another really exciting player to our lineup. And his defense is pretty good out there, too, the way he’s able to man both third base and shortstop.”

Shawn Camp (2-5) walked Matt Kemp on four pitches with one out in the ninth and Ethier’s single put runners at the corners for Ramirez, who is 10 for 42 with 11 RBI in 11 games since he was acquired from the Miami Marlins — including a tiebreaking two-run homer in the 10th inning of a 5-3 win at San Francisco on July 27.

“I like these moments. That’s why I’m here for, to help this team win ballgames,” Ramirez said. “I’m not trying to do too much — just take what they give you — and that’s the key for me. I was looking for a fastball in, so I just wanted to slow down everything and turn quick on it.”

Anthony Rizzo had three RBI, including a tying solo home run leading off the top of the ninth against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen (5-3) after Ethier gave Los Angeles a 6-5 lead with a two-run double in the seventh against James Russell. The blown save was Jansen’s sixth in 27 opportunities. Alfonso Soriano put the Cubs ahead 5-4 in the seventh with a two-run single against Javy Guerra, who came in after Randy Choate gave up Rizzo’s sacrifice fly. Joe Blanton allowed two runs and five hits, struck out five and tied a season high with three walks in his Dodgers debut. The nine-year veteran right-hander, who was acquired from Philadelphia on Friday in a trade after Los Angeles claimed him on waivers, departed with a 4-2 lead before the bullpen squandered it.

“He’s a quality starter and he’ll add a little depth to our rotation,” Ethier said. “When we faced him with Philly, he was always solid and gave them a good quality outing. He got a chance today to get things going with us, and he that’s definitely what he did. He made one or two mistakes, but he battled through those situations and gave us a chance. We had the win set up for him, but unfortunately we gave the lead away.”

Cubs reliever Scott Maine gave up a bases-loaded walk to pinch-hitter Juan Rivera and the two-run single by Luis Cruz that put the Dodgers ahead 4-2 in the sixth. The rally began when Cubs starter Justin Germano hit Mark Ellis with a 3-2 pitch and Alberto Cabrera loaded the bases with walks to Kemp and Ramirez. Germano was charged with two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings on the eve of his 31st birthday. The right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to help fortify a rotation that was depleted by the trades of Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm on Tuesday, and a triceps issue with Matt Garza that may have kept him from being dealt away as well.Los Angeles tied the score at 1 in the fifth when James Loney singled and came home on a two-out double by A.J. Ellis. But the Cubs regained the lead in the sixth on Welington Castillo’s a two-out solo homer. It was the 23rd home run allowed by Blanton, the most in the NL.

“I felt like I kept the ball down, except for that one mistake,” Blanton said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to focusing on — keeping the ball down, because I’ve been messing up and giving up a lot of homers.”

Blanton, who gave up only 18 walks over 133 1/3 innings in his 20 previous starts this season, issued one in each of the first three innings. The only one that cost him was his first-inning leadoff walk to David DeJesus, who scored on Rizzo’s one-out single. Rizzo has 21 RBI in 33 games since getting recalled from the minors on June 26.

“It was a good ballgame. Unfortunately, in the sixth and seventh innings, you can’t put five guys on without any hits. That was probably the difference in the game,” manager Dale Sveum said. “But it’s nice to get some guys in the lineup now that are going to develop at the big league level, so we can see what we’ve got.”

Brett Jackson, the Cubs’ No.1 draft pick in 2009 out of Cal-Berkeley, made his major league debut in center field just three days after his 24th birthday and singled twice in four at-bats after his contract was selected from Triple-A Iowa. Third baseman Josh Vitters, the Cubs’ third overall pick in the in the 2007 draft out of Cyprus (Calif.) High School, also was recalled from Iowa and flied out as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut.

NOTES—Garza was sent home by the Cubs, who plan on putting him on the 15-day disabled list. But no roster move was announced after the game….Former Dodgers pitching great Don Newcombe, currently the club’s special adviser to the Chairman, will be presented with the Beacon of Hope Award when the team is in Atlanta for the annual Delta Civil Rights Game on Aug. 18….The Cubs traded reserve infielder Jeff Baker to Detroit for two players to be named, after the Tigers claimed Baker off waivers. Outfielder Tony Campana was optioned to Iowa.

Pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski tied a White Sox record by homering in his fifth consecutive game, a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning off Jason Isringhausen that led the Southsiders over the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem 4-2 Sunday.With the Angels ahead 2-1, Isringhausen (3-2) relieved Dan Haren and allowed a leadoff single to Dayan Viciedo. Pierzynski hit for Tyler Flowers and hit a drive just out of the reach of a leaping Mike Trout in right-center field, Pierzynski’s career-high 21st homer.Nate Jones (5-0) allowed one run in two innings in relief of injured starter Francisco Liriano, Brett Myers pitched a scoreless eighth and Addison Reed struck out two in the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances.The Sox took two of three in the weekend series and have won nine of 12 games to remain a game and a half ahead of second place Detroit.Liriano, making his first home start for the White Sox since he was acquired from Minnesota on July 28, left after five innings because of a bruised right quadriceps caused by a Maicer Izturis one-hopper.Liriano gave up one run and four hits, struck out four and walked one.Haren allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings in three starts since a stint on the disabled list caused by lower back stiffness.Mike Trout’s sacrifice fly put the Angels ahead in the fifth after Izturis reached on the ball off Liriano, which rolled toward shortstop for an infield single. Peter Bourjos bunted for a single and Bobby Wilson hit the first of his two sacrifice bunts to advance Izturis to third.Kevin Youkilis tied the scored with a home run down the left-field line leading off the sixth, his third in two games and seventh in just 15 games at U.S. Cellular Field.That one would have been simply a single off the Green Monster at Fenway.With the bases loaded in the sixth, Izturis grounded into an inning-ending double play.Torii Hunter singled for a 2-1 lead in the seventh to score Bourjos, who had walked leading off and took second on Wilson’s sacrifice.Alexei Ramirez hit an RBI triple in the eighth against Jerome Williams.

NOTES—White Sox starter John Danks will have season-ending left shoulder surgery Monday in Chicago. The left-hander, who has been out since May 25 with a shoulder strain, finished the season 3-4 with 5.70 ERA. …Chris Sale (12-3, 2.61 ERA) will start Monday for the White Sox against Kansas City. Sale’s turn was skipped the last time through the rotation to afford him more rest during his first season as a starter. … Hunter returned to the Angels lineup after a day off. … The White Sox host the Royals on Monday with Sale opposing Luis Mendoza (5-7, 4.32). The Angels travel to Oakland with Jered Weaver (14-1, 2.29)whom the Sox avoided this weekend, taking on Jarrod Parker (7-4, 3.44).

LOS ANGELES—The home runs haven’t exactly been coming in bunches for Matt Kemp since his hamstring problems began back in May. So when he gets one, he doesn’t care how far it goes.The slugging center fielder drove in the Dodgers’ first two runs Saturday night with a fly ball that deflected off the glove of Cubs counterpart Joe Mather and over the fence in right-center. Clayton Kershaw and the bullpen made the lead stand up, and Los Angeles came away with a 3-1 victory.

“I thought it was going to be a home run, but you never know in this ballpark,” said Kemp, whose homer was his 16th this season and fourth in a span of 33 games and 127 at-bats. “It’s tough to hit home runs at night here — and after looking at it on the Jumbotron, I think I got a little bit of help. But we won, so it really doesn’t matter.”

Mather watched the replay a couple of times also and acknowledged that he could have tracked the ball a little differently.

“I didn’t think it was going to go that far with the swing he took, but it ended up carrying and got out of the yard,” said Mather, who was playing at Dodger Stadium for the first time in his career. “I saw the replay, and it was real close. Initially, I thought I should have gotten it. And obviously watching it again, I think that maybe if I had gotten a little better footing and made a little better jump, it’s a different ballgame.”

Kershaw (9-6) pitched three-hit ball over seven innings to keep Chris Volstad winless in his last 21 starts. The reigning Cy Young Award winner, coming off a five-hit shutout against the Giants last Sunday, struck out seven and allowed his only run on a fourth-inning double by Alfonso Soriano while lowering his ERA to 2.88.Kershaw walked No. 8 hitter Luis Valbuena his first two times up, and Volstad advanced the runner both times with sacrifice bunts. But Starlin Castro grounded out on a slider to end the third-inning threat, then took a called third strike on another slider to end the fourth. The Cubs’ leadoff hitter is 0 for 13 against Kershaw.Ronald Belisario pitched a perfect eighth and Kenley Jansen did likewise in the ninth for his 21st save. The Dodgers remained a half-game behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West.Volstad (0-8) yielded two runs and six hits through seven innings before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. The right-hander is 0-13 with eight no-decisions and a 5.49 ERA since beating Houston 5-4 on July 10 last season with the Marlins, who traded him to the Cubs in January for Carlos Zambrano.Volstad was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, a day after starters Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm were dealt away before the non-waiver trade deadline. This is Volstad’s third stint with the big club this season, including a 5-1 loss to the Dodgers on May 5 at Wrigley Field.Soriano’s run-scoring double ended an RBI drought of five games and 23 at-bats since his two-run triple against St. Louis’ Joe Kelly on July 28 at Wrigley.The Dodgers added a run in the ninth when Shane Victorino led off with a double and scored on a two-out error by Castro, who couldn’t handle Hanley Ramirez’s hard-hit grounder to shortstop.

NOTES—Darwin Barney eclipsed Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg’s franchise record for consecutive errorless games in one season at that position with his 91st in a row. The NL single-season record is 113, by David Eckstein with San Diego in 2010….This was the seventh time in Volstad’s 10 starts this season that the Cubs scored fewer than two runs while he was in the game….Kemp is hitting .336 with 13 RBI in 20 games since coming off the disabled list…..Soriano needs 11 RBI to reach 1,000 in his career…..The Dodgers optioned RHP Stephen Fife to Triple-A Albuquerque to clear a roster spot for RHP Joe Blanton, who met his teammates for the first time a day after the Dodgers acquired him from Philadelphia. “I was fortunate enough to get traded over there from Oakland in 2008 and won a World Series. Hopefully, history will repeat itself for me,” Blanton said. “This is a great place to pitch. Being in California, you get that cool air at night. The ball doesn’t travel as well as it does in Philly.” Blanton will make his Dodgers debut in Sunday’s series finale against Justin Germano, who was recalled from Iowa along with Volstad.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem finally won a battle of the bullpens.Albert Pujols homered again and Howie Kendrick hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning Saturday night that sent the Angels to a 6-5 victory over the White Sox.Alberto Callaspo doubled off Matt Thornton (4-7) with two outs in the 10th and scored on Kendrick’s single.The Angels bullpen had taken the loss in three consecutive games, but outdueled the Sox bullpen to break the Angels’ three-game losing streak.

“Hopefully we’re going to build from this and get a little more confidence in our bullpen,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Pujols’ 24th home run was his sixth in his last five games. Mike Trout continued his torrid season. He singled twice, scored two runs and scaled the wall in left-center field to rob Gordon Beckham of a home run in the second inning.

“I told him in the one at-bat, I’m like `You’re really good, man,’ because he does it all,” said White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. “He makes those catches in the outfield look so good. He hits for power, he can run as fast as anyone I’ve seen in a long time.

“He plays the game right, plays the game hard, has a smile on his face. The Angels are lucky to have him and he’s one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.”

Kevin Jepsen (2-1) worked a scoreless ninth. Ernesto Frieri pitched the 10th for his 13th save in 14 chances.

“Out of the bullpen, one of the tough things is you’re not really allowed to make any mistakes because a mistake changes the game,” Jepsen said. “You put one pitch where you don’t want to and you lose the game. The blame comes on us and that’s the way it is and that’s the way we like. We’ve always had confidence and we’ve never lost it.”

Kevin Youkilis homered twice for the White Sox, logging his first multihomer game since Sept. 28, 2009, and the 10th of his career. A.J. Pierzynski added a solo shot for the AL Central leaders.Pujols put the Angels ahead 5-3 with his solo homer in the seventh.Youkilis hit a tying, two-run shot off LaTroy Hawkins(who else?) in the bottom half. Youkilis also hit a solo homer in the first.Pierzynski homered in his fourth straight game, matching a career best. He extended a career high with his 20th home run.Pujols got into it with umpire crew Chief Dana DeMuth in the first after Pierzynski’s foul pop down the first base line was knocked away by a fan. DeMuth ruled that the ball was in the stands and the fan was free to go for the ball, prompting a visit from Scioscia.Pierzynski later popped out to strand runners on first and second.Scioscia also took issue with the umpires in Friday night’s 8-6 loss when the Angels filed a protest after a baserunning call went against them.Angels starter Ervin Santana allowed three runs-two earned-in six innings. He lowered his ERA to 5.83 in his second consecutive satisfactory start after his turn in the rotation was skipped in late July.

“Ervin looked solid,” Scioscia said. “Better fastball, better breaking ball in good spots.”

Gavin Floyd bounced back from a 41-pitch, three-run first inning to work deep into the game. He was chased by Pujols’ seventh-inning homer.

NOTES—The White Sox bullpen had allowed only three runs in its last 33 innings of work before Thornton was touched up…The start of the game was delayed for 21 minutes because of rain…..Angels RHP Jordan Walden (strained right biceps) is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session on Monday….Angels LHP Scott Downs (left shoulder strain) will begin a throwing program on Monday….Francisco Liriano (3-10, 5.18 ERA) makes his home debut for the White Sox in the series finale on Sunday against Dan Haren (8-8, 4.59).