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White Sox try to get off the schneid

The Chicago White Sox try to put an end to their free fall on Saturday afternoon as they clash with the Texas Rangers in the second of a three-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.

Not only is Chicago dead last in the American League Central standings, 11 games out of contention, the team is now 10 games below .500 after accepting an eighth straight defeat on Friday.

Perhaps most painful about having the worst record in the AL entering the weekend is the fact that the White Sox failed to take advantage of yet another masterful performance by pitcher Chris Sale during the 2-1 setback.

The hurler, who failed to factor into the decision, completed eight innings of shutout ball, allowing a mere two hits while striking out 14. He became just the third player since 1900 to register at least 12 strikeouts in five consecutive outings. Sale has now struck out at least 10 batters in six straight contests as well.

Unfortunately, even with Sale striking out the side in the eighth, manager Robin Ventura decided to go to his bullpen, which proved to be costly move as David Robertson blew his fourth save of the season and was saddled with his second defeat in six decisions.

"Sale has a long way to go in this season, and you're trying to take care of him," said Ventura. "Other guys have jobs to do too. It's tough."

On offense, the White Sox scattered nine hits, two each by Jose Abreu and Tyler Flowers, the latter hitting his fourth home run of the campaign to account for the lone run.

Mitch Moreland, one of only two batters for Texas not to strike out, knocked in both runs for the Rangers as they moved to 2 1/2 games of Houston for first place in the AL West.

"These guys believe that they can win," noted Rangers manager Jeff Banister. "They battled. They didn't get to Sale, but they were able to chip away and use up the pitch count and get him out of the game so that they were going to somebody. They're not going to quit, they're not going to give in, they're going to play till the end."

Texas starter Colby Lewis captured the win, his seventh, by scattering nine hits and allowing only the one run, fanning seven over eight innings of action. Shawn Tolleson stepped up in the ninth to secure his 10th save.

Saturday's matinee will feature Nick Martinez pitching for the Rangers and Carlos Rodon taking the ball for Chicago.

In the case of Martinez, the right-hander pitched well in his most recent outing last weekend versus Minnesota, but failed to factor into the decision. He allowed three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks, striking out five, over seven innings.

Since winning back-to-back outings versus Cleveland and New York, Martinez has registered just a single victory in his last four attempts, with one of those being a loss against the White Sox on June 3 at home when he was shelled for seven runs on nine hits in only 3 1/3 innings.

For his career, Martinez is 0-2 with a massive 12.96 ERA over a combined 8 1/3 innings.

As for Rodon, the rookie left-hander is just 22 years of age and was the third overall pick in the 2014 draft by Chicago. He registered his second career victory on June 9 versus Houston at home, but then was saddled with his first loss six days later when he stumbled against Pittsburgh on the road.

Versus the Pirates, Rodon made it through only 3 2/3 innings, knocked around for seven runs on nine hits and a walk, while striking out three.

Earlier this month the hurler clashed with Texas on the road, notching an impressive 10 strikeouts over six innings, yet he failed to factor into the decision even as he allowed only a single run on five hits and three walks.

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