Zach Duke had a much better outing on Saturday evening than his last game against the Florida Marlins — lasting five-and-a-third innings giving up three runs — but ultimately it was not enough and the Arizona Diamondbacks lost some ground in the division after falling 6-2 to the Chicago White Sox.
Chicago’s Paul Konerko went three for four, with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored in helping the Sox to the win. But things were close through seven innings, with Chicago nursing a 3-2 lead going into the eighth. But Alex Rios hit a homer off of D-backs reliever Micah Owings that sent three runs in, blowing open the game at that point. Rios finished with four RBIs.
The D-backs were down 2-0 until the fourth. Willie Bloomquist singled and Stephen Drew hit a double line drive that smacked Chi Sox starting pitcher John Danks in the head — don’t worry; he was fine — putting runners on second and third. A wild pitch from Danks allowed Bloomquist to score, and a single from Justin Upton scored Drew to tie the game at 2.
But that was about it for offensive production, though things looked promising until Owings allowed the three-run homer. Owings had been solid in his 2011 relief appearances so far.
After the D-backs close out the interleague series on Sunday evening, they head out to play 16 of 19 on the road before the All Star break in Phoenix.