Dustin McGowan beats Javier Vazquez 1-0 as Blue Jays finish 4-game sweep of White Sox
Associated Press | May 5, 08 10:32 PM CDT in
Sports
Dustin McGowan outpitched Javier Vazquez in an entertaining duel, and Matt Stairs homered to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat the slumping Chicago White Sox 1-0 Monday night for a four-game sweep.
Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning but got Pablo Ozuna to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game, earning his fifth save. It was Toronto's first four-game sweep since May 2003 against the New York Yankees.
McGowan (2-2) gave up four hits in 7 1-3 innings to win for the first time in three starts. He walked none and struck out six.
Stairs hit a leadoff homer in the seventh off Vazquez (3-3), who struck out nine while throwing 120 pitches in 7 2-3 innings.
Toronto pitchers have a major league-best 1.02 ERA since April 26, helping the Blue Jays win five in a row after losing eight of nine.
Chicago lost its season-high sixth straight game and has dropped nine of 12 overall. The White Sox have scored nine runs in their past six games and have the American League's lowest batting average at .229.
Manager Ozzie Guillen made changes to his struggling lineup, putting Orlando Cabrera in the leadoff spot, bumping Carlos Quentin to second and dropping Nick Swisher to sixth.
It didn't help, as Chicago continued to struggle with men on base. The White Sox are 7-for-61 (.115) with runners in scoring position over the past nine games.
Juan Uribe's single and Toby Hall's double put runners at second and third with none out in the third, but Cabrera grounded out, Quentin flied out and Jim Thome struck out swinging.
Those were the first three in a stretch of 16 consecutive outs by McGowan, who didn't allow another baserunner until Uribe's broken-bat single with one out in the eighth.
McGowan turned it over to Jesse Carlson, who hit pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski with a pitch to put runners at first and second. Shawn Camp replaced Carlson and got Cabrera to ground into a fielder's choice, then retired Quentin on a fly to left.
Vazquez lost for the first time in five starts at Rogers Centre, allowing eight hits and walking one.
Toronto, which came in with the third-fewest runs in the AL (130), couldn't get much going against Vazquez.
Shannon Stewart hit a one-out single in the fourth and went to third on Scott Rolen's single, but Rolen was tagged out after getting hung up between first and second. Stairs grounded out to end the inning.
Stewart hit a two-out triple in the fifth, but Rolen grounded out.
In the seventh, Stairs drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field bullpen for his fourth home run.
Notes:@ Ozuna started for 3B Joe Crede, who was scratched with a migraine. ... Ryan, who had elbow ligament replacement surgery last May, has been cleared to pitch in consecutive games. ... Vazquez has lost four of his past six decisions against Toronto.
(This version SUBS the 2nd graf to correct the date of Toronto's last 4-game sweep)
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.