White Sox power past Blue Jays
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alex Rios crushed a three-run home run against his former team and the Chicago White Sox belted a season-high tying five homers as they blasted the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-2, in the finale of a four- game set Thursday at Rogers Centre.
"It's no different than any other homer," said Rios, who spent his first five- plus seasons in Toronto. "Just another game, another team that we have to play and that's the way I see it."
Dewayne Wise, Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, and Tyler Flowers all smacked solo shots to help Chicago take its first season series victory over Toronto since 2006.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's not easy coming up here and winning games," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "They're good and they're tough at home."
Francisco Liriano (4-10) allowed two runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to earn his first win in four starts as a member of the White Sox after being dealt from Minnesota just prior to the non-waiver trade deadline.
Aaron Laffey (3-4) was saddled with the loss after giving up three hits -- all solo home runs -- and one walk with five strikeouts over six frames.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Moises Sierra clubbed a two-run shot to account for the Blue Jays offense, as they lost for the eighth time in their last 10 games.
"We were plagued by the long ball," said Blue Jays manager John Farrell. "Once again our struggles to generate any kind of consistent offense showed up here again tonight."
Sierra's two-run blast gave Toronto a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Chicago answered in the third when Wise lifted a fastball over the wall in right-center field to trim the deficit in half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The White Sox jumped in front in the fifth as Viciedo started the frame with a homer into the bullpen in left and Flowers followed suit with his fourth home run of the year into the upper deck in left to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.
Chicago then blew the game open in the eighth as Kevin Youkilis smacked a one- out single, Adam Dunn walked and Rios followed with a shot into left field to make it a 6-2 contest.
After A.J. Pierzynski grounded out, Ramirez launched a curveball into the left-field seats to extend the margin to 7-2.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Liriano held the Blue Jays hitless after the second, while Jesse Crain, Brett Myers and Philip Humber combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief to keep the Blue Jays off the board.
Game Notes
Chicago won the season series 6-4 ... Pierzynski went 0-for-4, snapping a 16- game hitting streak ... Toronto failed on all three of its attempts with runners in scoring position, stranding three on base ... The Blue Jays sent pitcher Kevin Comer to the Astros on Thursday to complete a July 20 trade ... The game was delayed about four minutes in the seventh inning when CPR had to be administered to a fan.