White Sox Beat Rays with Strong Pitching and Opportunistic Hitting

The Rare Insurance

Ramos moved to third on Paul DeJong's infield single but was thrown out at home when running on the contact of Braden Shewmake's grounder. After Martin Maldonado struck out, Tommy Pham's base hit scored DeJong.

With runners on the corners, Pham got caught stealing to end the inning with Gavin Sheets at bat.

"Clean baseball all the way around," Grifol said of his team's performance. "Opportunistic hitting. Really good pitching."

Isaac Paredes doubled to left to open the scoring in the fourth and give the Rays a 1-0 lead. The Rays' only run and lead lasted until the next inning when Ramos led off with a double before DeJong took Aaron Civale deep.

Keep Flexen

Flexen allowed only three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts to earn the win. He retired the first nine hitters he faced until Yandy Diaz's leadoff single in the fourth. All three hits the Sox starter allowed occurred in the fourth.

"He has kind of had our number," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He's kept us off balance quite a bit. Mixed very well against us and kind of given us fits."

Steven Wilson relieved Flexen in the seventh and struggled by walking two. John Brebbia entered the game and induced an inning-ending double-play to negate Tampa Bay's threat.

Michael Kopech earned the save after Paredes's game-ending double-play.

News and Notes

Bryan Ramos is 5-for-14 since being called up from Double-A Birmingham. His leadoff double in the fifth just missed becoming his first career homer.

"Two more pushups, and that's a homer," Ramos said with a smile.

Paul DeJong is off to a good start in May, batting .320 with two homers and a .986 OPS.

Grifol said Luis Robert Jr. is progressing in his recovery after a minor setback earlier in the week. Infielder Danny Mendick is close to a rehab assignment.

What's On Tap Net?

The White Sox return home to host the Cleveland Guardians for a four-game series. Erick Fedde will take the ball Thursday as he tries to rebound from a rough start in St. Louis. Ben Lively will get the start for the Guardians. First pitch is at 6:40 PM CT and the game will air on NBC Sports Chicago.