Morning Box Score

By Matt Motyka in News on Apr 26, 2009 3:30PM

Sox Drop Jays
The Chicago White Sox exacted revenge on the Toronto Blue Jays with a 10-2 drubbing last night, tying the series at one game apiece. Alexei Ramirez atoned for Friday's fielding sins by driving in five runs for the Sox, including a grand slam in the fifth to push the lead from two runs to six. Jermaine Dye also went yard for the Chicago, tacking on a pair in the sixth. The Blue Jays cobbled together two runs in the second inning, but otherwise couldn't figure out starter Mark Buehrle. His six-inning, six-hit performance earned Buerhle his third win of the season, and bumped the Sox's record to 9-8. Chicago also got some help in the field yesterday, as Brent Lillibridge and Jerry Owens both contributed defensive gems. The White Sox will try to take the series this afternoon, as they pit Jose Contreras against Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Cards Best Cubs
The shorthanded Chicago Cubs were on the wrong end of an 8-2 score Saturday afternoon, losing their second in a row to the St. Louis Cardinals. Sean Marshall was saddled with the loss after allowing three earned and six hits over six innings of work, but the real fireworks came for the Cards when Albert Pujols belted a grand slam off reliever David Patton in the seventh. The group-rate round tripper put St. Louis up by six and the lead out of reach for the Cubs. Chicago managed to equal St. Louis' 10 hits on the day, but unlike the Cards, couldn't string together a big inning. The Cubs were without the services of Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Marmol, who will both avoid trips to the D.L. and are expected to return later in the week after injuring themselves in Friday's ballgame. Chicago will look to avoid the sweep and halt a four-game skid when they step to the plate at 1:15 today.

Fire, Crew Draw
The Chicago Fired earned their third draw in as many games, this time 2-2, in dramatic fashion versus the Columbus Crew. The Fire trailed 2-0 for the majority of the contest, due to first-half scores from Columbus' Chad Marshall and Alejandro Moreno. Brian McBride made in-roads for Chicago with a header goal at the 86' mark, and then Gonzalo Segares placed one in the bottom left corner of the net two minutes later to cap the Fire's furious comeback and salvage the tie. A turning point came 13 minutes into the second half, when Crew defender Gino Padula was shown a red card for contact with Cuauhtemoc Blanco. The one-man advantage gave Chicago a lift, and put Columbus on the defensive for the rest of the match. Chicago returns home to play host to Seattle and New England over the next two weekends.