CHICAGO — Edwin Jackson struck out 10 in eight dominant innings, Alex Rios hit a two-run homer and the Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 on Thursday night for their first series victory in three weeks.
Jackson allowed three hits and walked two, improving to 2-0 with a sparkling 0.96 ERA in four starts since he was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 30. The right-hander, who threw a no-hitter on June 25 at Tampa Bay, has struck out 34 in 28 innings with Chicago.
The White Sox ended a streak of five consecutive series losses, winning a set for the first time since they took three of four at Detroit from Aug. 3-5. They had lost seven of their last 10 games and 11 of 16 overall.
Rios finished with three hits and three RBIs for Chicago, which had 12 singles among its 14 hits. Carlos Quentin, Paul Konerko, Alexi Ramirez and Mark Teahen each singled in a run.
Tony Peña got three outs to finish the four-hitter as Baltimore was shut out for the 10th time this season.
Jake Arrieta (4-6) lasted just four innings for the Orioles, yielding four runs and seven hits. The 24-year-old right-hander is 0-3 with a 4.32 ERA in his last three starts.
Now, the White Sox go from the bottom of the AL East to the top, with the New York Yankees coming to town for a three-game series. New York, tied with Tampa Bay for the division lead, is scheduled to send A.J. Burnett to the mound Friday night against Freddy Garcia.
TWINS 6, RANGERS 4: At Arlington, Texas, Francisco Liriano allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings, Delmon Young hit a three-run homer, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers and struggling Cliff Lee to avoid a four-game sweep. Liriano (12-7) struck out six and walked one to capture his sixth straight decision and snap Texas' four-game winning streak. Lee fell to 2-5 in his 10 starts for Texas since he was acquired from Seattle in a trade on July 9. Texas has won only three of those 10 starts. Lee (10-8) was gone after five innings and 97 pitches, allowing five runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
TIGERS 7, BLUE JAYS 1: At Toronto, Jhonny Peralta and Gerald Laird homered, Max Scherzer became a 10-game winner for the first time and the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays. Peralta hit a three-run drive and Laird added a two-run shot in Detroit's six-run fourth inning. It's the eighth time in eight road games that the Tigers have hit two or more home runs. They've hit 19 in that span. Toronto's Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 41st home run, the 100th homer of his career. Bautista's homer was the only run allowed by Scherzer (10-9), who gave up six hits in eight innings, matching his career high. He walked one and struck out eight. Detroit did all its damage against Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero (10-8) in the fourth, sending nine men to the plate.
INDIANS 3, ATHLETICS 2: At Cleveland, Matt LaPorta hit a go-ahead two-run homer to help Justin Masterson (5-12) win for only the second time in 10 starts and Cleveland broke a five-game losing streak. It came on "Puppypalooza Night," a promotion in which fans bought tickets for their pet dogs. The Indians doggedly clawed back to avoid a three-game sweep, snap a five-game losing streak and win for the fourth time in 17 games. LaPorta hit the first pitch thrown to him from Vin Mazzaro (6-6) with two outs in the sixth inning to put Cleveland ahead 3-2. Trevor Crowe lined a two-out single to left.