Chris Sale overcame a shaky first inning to combine with two relievers on a five-hitter and Adam Dunn homered to lead the Chicago White Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 Thursday night.
Desmond Jennings walked leading off the game and scored and scored on Evan Longoria's single, but Sale (2-2) settled down and won for the first time since opening day. He allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, struck out seven and worked around four walks.
Sale has 31 strikeouts in five appearances against the Rays. He is 11-3 with a 2.26 ERA at home in 17 starts dating to the beginning of the 2012 season.
Matt Lindstrom worked a scoreless eighth, then Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances for Chicago.
Dunn, in a 7-for-70 slide coming in, hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Jeremy Hellickson (1-2) for a 5-2 lead. Chicago had totaled 10 runs in its previous five games, losing four of them.
Hellickson gave up all five runs, five hits and four walks in six innings with eight strikeouts. Given the early lead, he allowed three runs in the first.
Alejandro De Aza doubled leading off and scored on Jeff Keppinger's double. Alex Rios walked and, one out later, Paul Konerko singled in the go-ahead run. Conor Gillaspie followed with a sacrifice fly.
Chicago Baseball
Jose Lobaton homered in the fourth, his first since Aug. 22. Lobaton was 2 for 2 with a walk.
Gillaspie was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Alexei Ramirez's double into the left-field corner in the fourth. Longoria took the throw from Kelly Johnson and relayed to Lobaton at the plate.
