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CHICAGO(AP) The squeeze was on as
Chris Getz
made a dash from third and headed for the plate.
When
Carlos Zambrano
threw outside and wild, Getz got a steal of home Sunday and the
White Sox
were on their way to a whacky 6-0 victory over the Cubs.
It's also the play that seemed to unnerve Zambrano. The emotional Cubs ace hit
DeWayne Wise
with the very next pitch and a short time later was out of the game.
''I was surprised that it was a stolen base, but looking back at it, I guess that's the only way you can rule it,'' Getz said.
''It was a suicide squeeze, Zambrano recognized that I was going and tried to avoid Wise from bunting it. So it turned into
a stolen base.''
Getz's steal that made it 4-0 was just one rare play in the sixth inning Sunday. After he was hit by Zambrano, Wise later
scored when an infield fly rule was called with the bases loaded
''With Getz on third we put the squeeze on. Zambrano threw a pitch really wide. I stepped in the box and I kind of told myself,
'This next pitch may be at me,''' Wise said.
''Sure enough it was.''
Wise had a few words for Zambrano as he headed to first and plate umpire Brian Runge stepped between them before ushering
Zambrano back to they mound.
''I just told him that wasn't right and moved on from there,'' Wise said.
John Danks
(6-6) allowed four hits over seven innings and reliever
Scott Linebrink
completed the shutout as the
White Sox
won two of three before sellout crowds at U.S. Cellular Field. The teams split two games at Wrigley Field last week and still
have a makeup game to play from a rainout in that earlier series.
Zambrano (4-3) gave up nine hits, including a homer to
Alexei Ramirez
, and was charged with five runs, four of them earned in 5 1-3 innings.
''When I saw this guy taking off I was trying to tell (catcher) Geo (Soto) 'Get out, get out.' But it was too late,'' Zambrano
said of the squeeze play.
Zambrano said the ensuing pitch that hit Wise was a cutter that ''cut too much.''
''In that situation, I don't want to get more in trouble. I want to get out of the situation and pitch my six or seven innings,''
he said.
''I wasn't even looking at him (Wise). I heard what he said, but I didn't understand what he said. I just said, 'What?' The
umpire was good (getting in between) because it was starting to get a little hyper.''
Cubs manager
Lou Piniella
went to the mound for a visit, and after Wise stole second and
Scott Podsednik
walked, he came out again to remove the emotional right-hander.
Ramirez then blooped a single to left against reliever
David Patton
to load the bases. As
Jermaine Dye
hit a towering pop that fell behind shortstop
Ryan Theriot
into short left field, umpires called the infield fly rule. Dye was called out, but Wise had raced home when the ball fell
in - Theriot was given an error on the play - and the
White Sox
had a 5-0 lead.
''With the wind going and stuff like that, I think the call may have been called a little bit too early, but they felt like
that was the decision to call it that early,'' said Dye, who homered in the eighth. ''It was a weird and wacky play, but we
ended up getting a run out of it.''
When Danks plunked
Ryan Freel
to start the seventh, Runge issued a warning to both benches.
''I knew it was coming,'' Freel said. ''I told the umpire, 'It's coming, right here, watch. Can you go ahead and give him
a warning right now?'''
Podsednik, who had four hits Saturday, was hit by a pitch by Zambrano with one out in the third. Ramirez then drove a 1-2
pitch into the left-field seats for his 10th homer, giving the
White Sox
a 2-0 lead.
Singles by A.J. Pierzynski and
Gordon Beckham
gave the
White Sox
runners at the corners in the fourth. With Beckham breaking for second, Wise hit an infield single off the glove of Cubs second
baseman
Andres Blanco
to make it 3-0.
Danks ran into trouble in the sixth. A leadoff double by
Alfonso Soriano
and back-to-back two-out walks to
Derrek Lee
and
Jake Fox
loaded the bases.
But he was bailed out when Ramirez, who had two errors Saturday, went to his knees in the hole to stab Soto's hard grounder
and threw to third to barely force out Lee.
NOTES: The
White Sox
lead the interleague series that began in 1997 by 36-35.
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