Robbie Ray matched his season high with nine strikeouts, helping the San Francisco Giants defeat the struggling Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night.
After not making it out of the first inning in his previous start against the Braves, Ray (3-2) limited Chicago to one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings.
“Man, that was really good,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “And you would expect a guy like him to respond after a tough outing.”
Ray added, “Felt good. I was excited to get back out because I’ve been working on some stuff over the past week and I was just itching to get back out there and try it out.”
Heliot Ramos drove in two runs as the Giants (65-63) won their third consecutive game and stayed 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final NL wild-card spot.
The White Sox (30-97) lost their fourth straight game and secured a 14th consecutive series loss, falling to 3-30 in their last 33 games.
“I think there’s never a margin for error,” Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “You have to play clean baseball. You have to take advantage of opportunities. Usually it’s the team that doesn’t hurt themselves that comes out on top.”
San Francisco took an early lead in the second inning when Matt Chapman and Mike Yastrzemski hit consecutive one-out singles, and Thairo Estrada grounded into a fielder’s choice to score a run.
Lenyn Sosa tied the game in the third with an RBI double.
The Giants regained the lead in the bottom of the third when White Sox starter Davis Martin walked Ramos with the bases loaded.
Ramos added another run in the fifth with an RBI single to center.
Yastrzemski contributed a run-scoring double in the seventh inning.
Martin (0-2) allowed three runs, two earned, and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
