[Art Deco]

The Rays pulled off their first sweep of a 3-game series since late May, dispatching the now 28-84 White Sox and are now 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto atop the AL East.

The opener wasn't easy though as the Rays had to score 4 times in the 8th to break a 3-3 tie and win 7-4 over Chicago. Joe Stack kept them in it, going 3-4 with a 2-run homer (#17) and RBI double to bring them back from 3-0 down to parity and then rookie Billy Doughty had the biggest hit of his brief MLB career, an RBI single to break the deadlock in the 8th before Luis Berumen's 2-run single broke it open. Leo Gutierrez went 5 5 3 3 1 5 and Ruben Abeyta (3-5) got the relief win.

The Rays romped in the second game, blowing out the Sox 12-2. First-inning homers from Duk-yoon Ko (#4) and Joe Stack (#18) staked them to a quick 3-0 lead, Wander Franco drove in 3 more and Justin Blackwell added a 2-run jack (#15) to lead the offense. It was an easy time and some rare support for Danny Morales (5-6), who was his typical excellent self at 7 3 1 1 0 8.

It took overtime but the Rays completed the sweep with a 1-0, 11-inning win over Chicago. Joe Marlette was in dominant form at 8 3 0 0 0 12 but was saddled with a no-decision as the offense struggled. The breakthrough finally came when pinch-hitter Duk-yoon Ko doubled to lead of the 11th, moved to third on a fly ball and scored on another one, Luis Berumen's sac fly. Tony Alicea earned his first Rays win by going the final 2 1/3 on only 23 pitches.

Team record: 63-52. Next up: From one extreme of competition to the other as the 75-39 defending champion Astros come to town for 3 after an off-day.

MLB News: Good news and bad news for a couple of former Rays. Houston's Dominic Scavone hit career homer #300 while one-time Tampa Bay ace and 6-time Cy Young winner James Hays' season came to an end with a torn rotator cuff.