Like a glass of fresh, cold lemonade on a hot Texas night, Joaquin Benoit was just what the White Sox needed Monday.
The slumbering Sox offense woke up against Benoit, knocking him out in the third inning, and then kept hitting en route to a
12-6 victory over the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. The Sox stayed a half-game ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central.
Newly acquired Carl Everett, playing his first game since Sunday’s trade with the Montreal Expos, made his presence felt with a 2-for-5 night, including a home run and two runs scored.
“I think he’ll help this team on the field and off the field,” Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said before Monday night’s game.
Scott Schoeneweis (6-7) ended a personal five-game losing streak, going 52 1/43 innings and allowing four runs and five hits. He retired the first eight Rangers batters before Gary Matthews Jr. homered in the third.
By then, however, the Sox were ahead 7-1. Every Chicago starter reached base by the third inning as the team pounded out 17 hits off Benoit and four other Rangers pitchers.
The four runs in the third inning marked the first time they had scored more than three runs in an inning since June 26 against the Cubs, a span of 152 innings.
