CHICAGO (AP) — Sean Burke tossed three-hit ball over six innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-1 on Friday night.
Burke (3-5) outpitched Tyler Mahle (5-2) and the White Sox opened the weekend series on a winning note after losing six of seven. The Rangers dropped their season-high fifth in a row.
Luis Robert Jr. capped a three-run third with an RBI single. He also took third when right fielder Adolis García dropped his fly ball leading off the sixth and scored on Joshua Palacios’ single against Caleb Boushley, making it 4-1.
In a game between teams that came in with the two lowest batting averages and scoring totals in the American League, that was more than enough.
Burke allowed one run. The 25-year-old right-hander struck out six and walked three.
Cam Booser and Jordan Leasure each worked an inning. Steven Wilson pitched the ninth for his first save and the White Sox stopped an 11-game losing streak against Texas.
Mahle lasted five innings, allowing a season-high three runs and five hits.
Jake Burger cut it to 3-1 with a two-out double in the sixth, but the Rangers continued to struggle at the plate after getting outscored a combined 10-5 by the New York Yankees the previous three games.
Key moment
After holding opponents to two runs or less in each of his first 10 starts, Mahle fell behind 3-0 in the third.
He gave up singles to Lenyn Sosa and Josh Rojas leading off before issuing one-out walks to Mike Tauchman and Miguel Vargas, forcing in the first run. Andrew Benintendi hit a sacrifice fly and Robert added an RBI bloop single.
Key stat
The White Sox beat the Rangers for the first time since a 7-6 victory on June 20, 2023, in Chicago.
Up next
Rookie RHP Jack Leiter (3-2, 4.25 ERA) starts for Texas and RHP Jonathan Cannon (2-5, 3.76) gets the ball for Chicago.