BOSTON (AP) — Daniel Nava doubled in the tying run in the ninth inning and scored on Brock Holt’s single as the Boston Red Sox rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Wednesday night and snap a four-game losing streak.
Chris Sale pitched 7 2-3 innings of four-hit ball and left with a 4-0 lead in his bid to earn the last spot on the AL All-Star team. The winner of the fan voting will be announced on Thursday and Sale, an All-Star the last two seasons, walked none and struck out six before his bullpen cost him a chance to improve to 9-1.
Jake Petricka faced four batters in the eighth and failed to record an out. It was 4-3 by the time Javy Guerra (0-1) retired Mike Carp to end the eighth.
But Guerra couldn’t finish it in the ninth, hitting Mookie Betts with one out and then giving up RBI hits to Nava and Holt.
Koji Uehara (5-2), who was added to the AL All-Star team earlier Wednesday, earned the win. Jose Abreu and Conor Gillaspie homered to help stake Chicago, which had won three straight, to a 4-0 lead. Sale did not allow a runner to reach third base until the eighth, when Betts led off with an odd double — he beat out an infield single and took second when he noticed no one was covering — then moved up on a groundout.
After getting Holt to ground out, Sale was replaced by Petricka. And that’s when the Red Sox, who had lost seven of their first eight games on the homestand, rallied.
Abreu hit a solo homer to deep center field in the first inning, his 28th of the season. Only Mark McGwire, who had 33 homers at the 1987 All-Star break, hit more in the first half of his rookie season.
Gillaspie added a solo shot in the second, and the White Sox made it 3-0 when he doubled and scored in the fourth. Tyler Flowers and Adam Eaton had consecutive doubles in the seventh to make it 4-0.
The Red Sox had a few good plays in the field, though. Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. made a diving catch of Flowers’ line drive in the second. In the seventh, Eaton doubled off the Green Monster, with the ball coming down off left fielder Jonny Gomes’ nose. Gomes retrieved it and made a throw that was relayed by third baseman Xander Bogaerts to catcher Christian Vazquez, who made a perfect tag on Alejandro De Aza.
Gomes spent the rest of the half-inning plugging his nose with his undershirt, apparently to keep it from bleeding, but remained in the game.
NOTES: Vazquez was making his major league debut. Earlier Wednesday, the Red Sox designated C A.J. Pierzynski for assignment. … Sale would be the first White Sox pitcher to make three straight All-Star teams since Jack McDowell in 1991-93. … The Red Sox started five rookies for the first time since 1952. … Uehara was named to the All-Star team as a replacement for Yankees starter Masihiro Tanaka, who was placed on the DL on Wednesday…. Rubby De La Rosa, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier Wednesday, gave up three runs and six hits, striking out three in five innings.
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- Boston Red Sox shortstop Brock Holt (26) makes the tag while Chicago White Sox’s Dayan Viciedo reacts as he is called out trying to reach second base on an error in the fourth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
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