Jonny DeLuca added to his torrid start with a homer and four RBIs, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 8-2 on Monday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., for their season-high fourth straight win.
A starter in every game during a three-game weekend sweep of the New York Mets, DeLuca went 2-for-4 as the Rays cruised to 4-0 on their nine-game homestand.
The outfielder has 10 RBIs in his four appearances for the Rays, who reached .500 through 36 games.
Harold Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a double, three runs, an RBI and a stolen base. In his season debut, Josh Lowe batted third and was 2-for-5 with a double.
Rays starter Tyler Alexander tossed four-plus innings and allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while fanning a season-high seven.
Erasmo Ramirez (2-0) fired three scoreless innings to win for the second time in two days. He allowed no hits and one walk, striking out one.
Chicago’s Tommy Pham hit a two-run home run, but the club managed just four hits, committed two errors and had its two-game winning streak snapped.
In his first outing for the White Sox this season, right-hander Mike Clevinger (0-1) lasted two-plus innings and surrendered four runs (three earned) on six hits. He walked four without a strikeout.
The Rays sent eight batters to the plate in the second inning and produced three runs.
After loading the bases with no outs, DeLuca hit a two-run single. Yandy Diaz then legged out a fielder’s choice to score Ben Rortvedt for a three-run lead.
Chicago cut into its deficit the next half-inning as Pham swatted a two-run homer to right field. The 374-foot shot was his second this season.
In the third, Ramirez’s single scored Amed Rosario, who opened the frame with a stand-up triple, to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. White Sox reliever Jared Shuster pitched out of trouble to keep it a two-run deficit.
After Ramirez’s leadoff double in the fifth, Rortvedt built the lead back to three when he lined an RBI single to left off Shuster.
DeLuca then hammered a changeup for a two-run homer to left, his first of the year, for a 7-2 advantage.
A throwing error by pitcher Tim Hill on Jose Caballero’s infield single allowed Ramirez to race home with the final run in the sixth.
