BOSTON - The White Sox came limping into Fenway Park struggling for over a month.
After three wins over one of the AL’s best teams, Chicago feels firmly on the upswing.
Brett Lawrie hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning after Melky Cabrera had a tying, two-run shot, lifting the resurgent White Sox over the Boston Red Sox 8-6 on Wednesday night.
“They just continue to grind. You cannot feel sorry for yourself. It’s not going to get you anywhere,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “They’ve weathered it. I think now they’re getting a little momentum back and the spark that we had early.”
Chicago entered the week against one of the AL’s top teams having lost 26 of 36 games, but the White Sox have won all three games so far in this four-game series.
“I think it pumped us up coming into this stadium, playing in Fenway is already a bonus because it’s such a good stadium,” Lawrie said. “We knew what we were coming up against and how well they were playing.”
Cabrera went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and Todd Frazier hit his 21st homer — a two-run drive — for Chicago.
The White Sox (36-36) are back to .500 after having their strong start derailed by that lackluster stretch.
Xander Bogaerts had three hits and three RBIs, and Hanley Ramirez hit a solo homer after being dropped in the order for Boston.
Dan Jennings (3-1) got four outs for the win. Zach Duke got the final three for his first save and third of his career.
Cabrera tied it with a drive into Chicago’s bullpen off Koji Uehara (2-3). After Frazier struck out, Lawrie also homered against Uehara, hitting it completely out of Fenway over the Green Monster seats.
“Yeah, two splits stayed up in the strike zone,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “First one to Cabrera, the 0-1 pitch to Lawrie is the difference in this zone. Leading up to that inning, we battled back, take the lead.”
Farrell shuffled the order after it scored two or fewer runs in three straight games for the first time this season, flipping Ramirez to seventh and Chris Young up to fifth.
Ramirez homered into Boston’s bullpen leading off the sixth after Frazier’s two-run shot tied it at 4 in the top half. Bogaerts added a run-scoring single.
Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed four runs — three earned — on four hits over six innings, striking out seven with two walks. He was hit hard his last three starts.
“You can see the velocity is back,” he said. “Consistency with both sides of the plater is better, so I think everything’s coming back day by day.”
Jose Quintana walked a career-high six, giving up a season-high six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
CELTICS NIGHT
The Red Sox honored the 50, 40, and 30-year anniversaries of Celtics' championships pregame, hanging a banner of each on the Green Monster.
Hall of Famers Tom "Satch" Sanders (from '66 team) and John Havlicek ('76) threw out ceremonial first pitches along with the GM of the '86 team — Jan Volk.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Jose Abreu and Frazier were hit by pitches from Robbie Ross Jr. in the ninth but stayed in the game.
Red Sox: Utility player Brock Holt (concussion) had a planned day off in his rehab stint with Class AAA Pawtucket after playing two consecutive games. ... Shaw left with a bruised right shin. He fouled a ball off his leg Tuesday.
UP NEXT
White Sox: Struggling recently acquired RHP James Shields (0-2, 21.81 ERA) is set to start the finale. He's the first pitcher since 2012 to allow six-plus runs in four straight starts, giving up 21 total over 8 2/3 innings in his three starts since coming to the White Sox from San Diego.
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (8-2, 3.76) looks to raise his record in Fenway Park to 7-0 this season.
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