SAN FRANCISCO—Robbie Ray matched his season high with nine strikeouts, and the San Francisco Giants beat the lowly Chicago White Sox 4–1 on Tuesday night.
After failing to get out of the first inning in his previous start, against the Atlanta Braves, Ray (3–2) limited Chicago to one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“Man, that was really good,” Giants Manager Bob Melvin said. “And you would expect a guy like him to respond after a tough outing.”
Added Ray: “Felt good. I was excited to get back out because I’ve been working on some stuff over the past week, and I was just itching to get back out there and try it out.”
Heliot Ramos drove in two runs as the Giants (65–63) won their third straight game to remain 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final National League wild-card spot.
The White Sox (30–97) lost their fourth in a row and clinched a 14th consecutive series defeat, falling to 3–30 in their past 33 games.
“I think there’s never a margin for error,” Chicago interim Manager Grady Sizemore said. “You have to play clean baseball. You have to take advantage of opportunities. Usually, it’s the team that doesn’t hurt themselves that comes out on top.”
San Francisco took an early lead in the second inning when Matt Chapman and Mike Yastrzemski hit consecutive one-out singles and Thairo Estrada grounded into a fielder’s choice to produce a run.
Chicago’s Lenyn Sosa tied it in the third with an RBI double.
The Giants regained the lead in the bottom half when White Sox starter Davis Martin walked Ramos with the bases loaded.
Ramos drove in another run with an RBI single to center field in the fifth. Yastrzemski added a run-scoring double in the seventh.
Martin (0–2) permitted three runs, two earned, and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
“[He] did a good job keeping us in that game,” Sizemore said. “We just didn’t get enough hits for him tonight.”
