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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

ChiSox topple M’s

Take one-game lead in A.L. Central race

Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre throws out Chicago’s  Juan Uribe.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press

CHICAGO – White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he thinks the A.L. Rookie of the Year is on his team. He’s reserving judgment on whether a White Sox player should also win the MVP award.

Rookie Alexei Ramirez hit a three-run home run and Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run in the eighth to help the Chicago White Sox beat the dismal Seattle Mariners 13-5 on Monday night.

With the win, the White Sox took a one-game lead in the A.L. Central over the Minnesota Twins, who lost 3-2 to Oakland.

Ramirez also hit a grand slam on Sunday, Quentin has homered in seven of his last 12 games and owns a .293 batting average with 96 RBIs. There were chants of MVP from the sellout crowd after his homer.

“On my team, yes. I have a couple of guys out there,” Guillen said. “I think the Missile (Ramirez) should win it. The MVP, we still have a month to go. It’s kind of early to say who should be MVP.”

Guillen said Ramirez has a shot because his main competition, Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay, is hurt.

The 26-year-old Ramirez is hitting .308 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs. Not bad for a guy who hit .121 in limited action in April.

Nick Swisher hit a two-run home run and Orlando Cabrera started a six-run fifth inning with another two-run shot for Chicago, which improved to 43-19 at home.

Jermaine Dye doubled twice and drove in two runs for the White Sox, who have won six of their last seven games.

The White Sox lead the majors with 182 homers. They hit four homers for the second straight game.

Yuniesky Betancourt hit a solo homer in the sixth inning for the Mariners, who have lost four straight and own the worst record in the A.L.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (11-10) survived a shaky performance to improve to 8-3 at home. He allowed five runs and 11 hits in 52/3 innings. Buehrle appreciated the offensive output.

“Especially when I go out there and pitch the way I did,” Buehrle said. “That’s the reason why I hate this game sometimes. When you go out there and make your pitches and they find holes, infield hits, bunts, right over the infielder’s head. That’s why this game sometimes is frustrating.”

Trailing 4-3 in the fifth inning, the White Sox pounded Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn, who couldn’t hold his second lead of the game. The White Sox brought 12 batters to the plate in the inning and scored six runs on six hits.

Washburn walked Juan Uribe and then Cabrera homered to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead. It was his seventh of the season.

After A.J. Pierzynski walked, Quentin singled and Dye ended Washburn’s night with a two-run double to make it 7-4.

Washburn (5-13) allowed eight runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

“Our pitching was going good for quite a while and we were struggling with the bats,” Mariners interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “Now it seems like we’re getting 12 or 15 hits a night and the pitching is starting to struggle or has been struggling for a little while.”