ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Get the hair dye ready.

Jorge Sosa tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ran their winning streak to a season-high three games with a 3-2 triumph over the Chicago White Sox .

Earlier in the year, Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella told his players they could dye his hair any color but purple if the team won three games in a row.

It took 85 games, but the Devil Rays finally strung together the three wins necessary to make good on the offer. They have had seven two-game winning streaks this year.

The players already had voted to dye Piniella's hair golden blond.

"The guys want blond and we'll give them blond," Piniella said. "I'll be here tomorrow early and by game time I'll be a blond. I'm happy to do it. It took until mid-July to win three in a row. That's with spring training included. We'll give them the Jon Gruden look."

Piniella had to sweat out the victory as closer Lance Carter gave up a leadoff home run to pinch hitter Magglio Ordonez and an RBI double to Frank Thomas in the ninth before nailing down his 14th save.

After giving up the double to Thomas, a shaky Carter settled down to strike out Brian Daubach swinging and get Carl Everett on a popout. In his last six appearances, Carter has allowed 10 runs in 10 innings.

The Devil Rays grabbed the lead on Javier Valentin 's leadoff homer against Esteban Loaiza in the fifth. Valentin also had a large rooting section that included his father and a number of cousins.

"I got lucky and hit the ball out of the park," he said. "It's sweet, especially when you win the game like that. I will never forget that. It's my first major league home run in front of my family."

The Devil Rays made it 3-0 in the seventh on Julio Jugo's RBI single and rookie Rocco Baldelli 's sacrifice fly.

Sosa (2-6) kept the White Sox off the board, despite working in and out of trouble. He scattered six hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

"I was inspired because my mom was here and it was the first time she's seen me pitch in the major leagues," Sosa said through an interpreter. "This is my first win in front of her and I want to dedicate it to her."

Loaiza (11-4) failed in his bid to join Toronto's Roy Halladay as the only 12-game winners in the major leagues.

"I want to be consistent all the time but it didn't go our way today," he said. "We battled and gave it the best we got."

Chicago best chance against Sosa came in the sixth when Daubach and Carlos Lee walked around Everett's single to load the bases with no outs.

Sosa got Jose Valentin to fly out to shallow center field before Brandon Backe came on and struck out Tony Graffanino and Olivo swinging.

After Graffanino struck out, pitching coach Chris Bosio paid Backe a visit on the mound to calm him down.

"Before Bosio came out, my knees were shaking and my mouth was dry," Backe said. "I was hoping he was going to bring me a cup of water. He gave me words of encouragement and assured me that everything was going to be all right."

The White Sox had runners on in every inning, but stranded 12 and were just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

"It's like the past," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "We get the bases loaded, get the gun loaded and it won't shoot when you pull the trigger."

Al Levine and Travis Harper followed with a scoreless inning apiece for the Devil Rays .