The White Sox didn’t stand still Tuesday night, aside from club chairman Jerry Reinsdorf reminiscing with St. Louis manager Tony La Russa behind home plate for about 45 minutes.
That was the extent of the warmth extended to the former Sox manager, as the Sox soiled his return with a 24-hit attack off South Holland native Mark Mulder and five relievers en route to a 20-6 humbling before a festive sellout crowd of 39,463 at U.S. Cellular Field.
An 11-run third-inning rally off Mulder was the springboard, and a six-run sixth represented the finishing touches against a Cardinals team that has won 24 of their last 31 interleague games dating back to 2004 and possesses the second-best interleague record among National League teams at 76-58.
The Sox scored 20 runs for the first time since May 15, 1996, when they smacked Milwaukee 20-8. The Sox also collected 24 hits against Seattle on Aug. 9, 2000.
In the midst of their rout, the Sox finally got fed up with their batters getting hit, although they faced some consequences. Newcomer David Riske was ejected with manager Ozzie Guillen for nailing Chris Duncan in the seventh.
The ejections came after home plate umpire Mike Everitt warned both teams in the sixth after Cardinals pitcher Sidney Ponson drilled Brian Anderson and Pablo Ozuna with the bases loaded to force in two runs.
This marked the first time this season the Sox retaliated after receiving a warning. They had been warned without hitting a batter in road games against the Angels (April 29), Indians (May 1) and last Wednesday against the Rangers.
The 11-run third included seven consecutive hits, the most in an inning since the Sox had seven straight in the seventh inning on July 19, 2003, against Detroit.
