Youkilis lifts ChiSox over Rangers
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The South Side of Chicago has embraced Kevin Youkilis fairly quickly.
After smacking his first homer with his new club Tuesday, Youkilis provided the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday, lifting the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers in the middle installment of a three-game set.
Alejandro De Aza grinded out an eight-pitch walk off of Mike Adams (1-3) to start to 10th. De Aza fouled off a pitch off his knee during the at-bat and stayed on the ground for several minutes.
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"Once he fouled that ball off, it was like icing a kicker," Adams said. It kind of got me out of rhythm a little bit.
After De Aza stole second, he raced home when Youkilis ripped an 0-2 pitch for a single to left.
Youkilis was mobbed by his teammates near the pitcher's mound while the rest of the spectators at U.S. Cellular Field broke into chants of "Youk! Youk! Youk!"
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The 33-year-old was rather unimpressive during his first seven games -- all on the road -- with Chicago since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox on June 24.
He was just 6-for-26 (.231) on the road trip, but he's contributed plenty of fireworks during his first homestand.
Youkilis went 3-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored during Tuesday's 19-2 shellacking of Texas and followed that with a 2-for-4 effort Wednesday.
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"I had a little rut baseball-wise and statistically and a funk and hopefully this will be a thing where I can keep going forward and playing better ball," Youkilis said.
Addison Reed (2-1) picked up the win following a 1-2-3 top of the 10th.
Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez added a pair of hits and a run scored for the White Sox, who have won six of their last eight games.
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Josh Hamilton belted his 26th homer of the season for Texas, which has dropped three straight on the heels of a five-game winning streak.
Michael Young's two-run double and Nelson Cruz's RBI single in the opening frame helped Texas jump out to a 3-0 lead, but Chicago retaliated in the second as RBI singles by Dayan Viciedo and Ramirez, and a two-run double by Gordon Beckham vaulted the White Sox to a 4-3 advantage.
The Rangers battled back and tied the game up 4-4 in the third when Hamilton launched an 0-2 fastball deep into the seats in right.
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Game Notes
White Sox starter Dylan Axelrod surrendered four runs on seven hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings, while Texas starter Scott Feldman allowed four runs on six hits and a walk in six innings...The White Sox were 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, while the Rangers finished 2-for-4.