ARLINGTON, Texas — The Chicago White Sox had just taken a two-run lead in the top of the fourth.
But the Texas Rangers were threatening in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with no outs.
Sox starter Anthony Kay needed to make a big pitch. And he did, getting Elias Díaz to hit a grounder to third base. Miguel Vargas charged, stepped on the bag and then threw to first for a double play. A run scored on the play, but the Sox avoided any more damage when Kay struck out Alejandro Osuna swinging to end the inning.
“To escape that with only one run was huge,” Kay said. “A great play by Vargas over at third and then we were able to get out of it.”
Kay allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, helping the Sox to a 4-2 victory Wednesday in front of 31,127 at Globe Life Field.
The left-hander had four strikeouts and two walks on the way to improving to 7-4.
“He just did a really good job of managing the game,” manager Will Venable said. “I’m not sure anything really stuck out other than that he was competitive in the zone. It felt like he had his good stuff. Some tough spots there, got the big double play, and was able to land some sweepers in the zone, too. I thought it was huge for him.
“So a really nice job just kind of controlling the game and controlling the start.”
The Sox won two of three in the series and are alone again atop the American League Central with the victory and Cleveland’s 10-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins. The Sox (54-47) have a one-game lead over the Guardians (54-49).
“Every series win is important, and obviously, the beginning of this season, we weren’t able to rack up a lot of series wins on the road,” Venable said. “That’s not something we were thinking about. We just want to go out there and win that game and win the series and we were able to do it today.”
Chase Meidroth led the way offensively for the Sox on Wednesday with four singles and two RBIs. Andrew Benintendi had two hits and two RBIs. Braden Montgomery singled, walked and scored three runs.
“It feels good coming through with runners on,” Meidroth said. “I haven’t been great lately but it feels good to do my job and do that in a good spot there and put our team ahead.”
Montgomery walked with one out in the second against Texas opener Tyler Alexander, who was with the Sox for a portion of last season. Montgomery advanced from first to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Meidroth, giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers tied the score in the bottom of the second on a home run by Cam Cauley.
The Sox regained the lead, this time for good, in the fourth. Munetaka Murakami walked and later scored on a single by Meidroth. Benintendi followed with an RBI single, driving in Montgomery — who had reached on a fielder’s choice — to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kay allowed just the one run while escaping the jam.
Montgomery singled with one out in the sixth, then went from first to third on a hit-and-run single by Meidroth. Benintendi knocked him in again with a single, pushing the Sox lead to 4-2.
“I think our offense is very multi-faceted,” Meidroth said. “There are many ways to win a baseball game, which makes this team and lineup really special. It’s a great job by our offense getting ahead there and a better job by the bullpen shutting it down.”
The Sox bullpen took it from there, as three relievers combined for eight strikeouts and no hits over the final four innings.
“You’ve got to be able to execute pitches and continue to pound the zone, and they did that, and obviously each one of them came out and did a great job,” Venable said.
The Sox had a fielding and a throwing error in the sixth, but reliever Jordan Hicks prevented the Rangers from scoring. Grant Taylor struck out five of the six batters he faced over the seventh and eighth innings.
Bryan Hudson struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth for his fourth save and to wrap up a 4-2 trip to Toronto and Texas.
“Toronto’s a really tough place to play, they’ve got a good fan base and a good atmosphere,” Kay said. “To take two from there and then come over here and take two more, good way to start off the second half and get going.”
