Hector Noesi pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning for his first win in a month, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Noesi (3-6) struck out five and walked two in 6 2-3 innings, a crisp performance against one of his former teams. The right-hander pitched for Seattle for parts of three seasons before he was cut in April.
Chicago finished with just two hits after it had four in Saturday's 3-2 loss in 14 innings. But Conor Gillaspie scored on a wild pitch in the first and Noesi combined with two relievers on a five-hitter.
Eric Surkamp got Robinson Cano to fly out with the bases loaded for the final out of the seventh, and Jake Petricka pitched two innings for his third save in four chances. The solid relief work came one day after the White Sox blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning.
Seattle right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-1) lasted just four innings in his second start of the season. The 21-year-old Walker, one of baseball's top pitching prospects, struggled with his control in his first loss in five major league appearances.
The White Sox used Walker's wildness to grab the lead in the first. Gillaspie walked with two outs, advanced to third on Jose Abreu's single and scored when Walker threw his first of two wild pitches on ball four to Adam Dunn.
Walker then got Alexei Ramirez to bounce into a fielder's choice, ending the threat. The White Sox left a runner in scoring position in each of the first five innings.
Chicago Baseball
Walker allowed two hits and struck out three while throwing 83 pitches on a warm, humid day. He tossed six innings in a 10-4 victory at Houston last Monday in his season debut.
Dustin Ackley and Brad Miller had two hits apiece for the Mariners, who had won five of six.
Gillaspie also walked in the third before he left with a bruised right knee after he was hit by a pitch from Dominic Leone in the fifth inning. Gillaspie took a few shaky steps toward first before he was replaced by pinch-runner Leury Garcia.
Second base umpire Dana DeMuth also departed in the fifth after colliding with White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham. The game continued with three umpires.
