Chicago White Sox maul Texas Rangers

The Chicago White Sox left the Texas Rangers battered and bruised on Tuesday after mauling Major League Baseball’s top team 19-2. Kevin Youkilis hit a home run in the first inning, his first since being traded to Chicago from the Red Sox in late June, and finished with four RBIs. The home team had three first-inning homers and 21 hits in the one-sided series opener between division leaders. “It was a great night,” Youkilis said. “It was awesome just to get that huge lead and letting [starter Chris Sale] do his job out there. [We] couldn’t ask for a better start to the homestand.”Chicago scored four runs in the first inning, three in the second and nine in the fifth en route to a 19-0 lead to torment Texas (50-31) pitcher Roy Oswalt, who surrendered 11 runs on his third start since joining the Rangers in May. Sale fared much better on the mound for the White Sox (43-37), allowing just one run to improve to 10-2 on the season. The Rangers came into the game on a high after recently having seven players named to the July 10 All Star game, but the good feelings ended with their worst defeat of the season. “We got the ball over the plate, they didn’t miss,” said Rangers manager Ron Washington. “They came out swinging the bat. Just couldn’t stop their offence.” Texas still leads the American League West by five games while the White Sox have a two-game edge in the AL Central. from gulfnews.com