Tristan Gray hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning and Josh Lowe and Richie Palacios also went deep as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay (72-72) stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within four games of Seattle (76-68) for the third American League wild card. The Rays are among four teams chasing the Mariners, who played later Tuesday, for the final AL playoff spot.
Pete Fairbanks worked around a two-out error in the ninth inning for his 25th save.
Retired in order in the first inning, Tampa Bay solved White Sox starter Yoendrys Gomez soon enough. Junior Caminero lined a leadoff double in the second inning and scored on Lowe’s two-run blast.
Gomez recorded two quick outs before the Rays struck again, as a walk and a hit were followed by Chandler Simpson’s RBI single to center. Tampa Bay extended the advantage to 4-1 on Palacios’ solo shot in the fourth. It was the first home run of the season for Palacios, who has been limited to seven games due to various injuries.
Chicago (55-90) grabbed a 1-0 lead on Kyle Teel’s solo home run in the first inning against former teammate Adrian Houser. The White Sox drew closer on Chase Meidroth’s RBI single in the fifth and pulled level at 4-4 with a two-run rally in the sixth. Colson Montgomery hit an RBI double against Rays reliever Mason Montgomery, and Andrew Benintendi added a tying single.
Gray, who spent most of the season with Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago minor league system, struck against his former organization with his seventh-inning blast against Tyler Alexander. The Rays acquired Gray in exchange for cash on July 26.
Houser joined the Rays from the White Sox five days later. Third baseman Curtis Mead, part of the return for Chicago, went 0-for-2 against Houser and finished 0-for-4.
Houser scattered three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with zero walks and a season-high nine strikeouts.
Gomez allowed four runs and five hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Alexander (5-14) yielded one run and one hit with two strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.
Kevin Kelly (2-3) picked up the victory, getting the last out of the sixth inning.
Lenyn Sosa had two hits for the White Sox, who had won seven of their previous eight games.
Chicago manager Will Venable was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes.
