White Sox Sweep Devil Rays

Their GM says he's ready to clean house and the Chicago White Sox kick it into gear. Go figure.

Javier Vazquez allowed one run in seven innings and Paul Konerko hit a pair of solo homers, helping the White Sox complete a four-game sweep in St. Petersburg, Fla., in American League action on Thursday night.

Vazquez (4-5) won for the second time in his last 13 starts. Konerko homered in a two-run second off Scott Kazmir, and later made it 5-1 on a seventh-inning shot against Jason Hammel. It was Konerko's second multihomer game this season and 21st in his career.

The White Sox, who were called out by Ken Williams earlier this month, were +124 underdogs on the moneyline (meaning a winning wager of $100 would net a $124 profit).

In other AL action on Thursday:

New York Yankees 8, Baltimore 6 (postponed): The game was postponed with two outs in the top of the eighth inning because of rain. New York had scored four runs in the inning to take the lead.

Cleveland 4, Oakland 3: Jason Michaels hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Indians won at Jacobs Field, where they were -112 favorites. The Indians trailed 3-1 when Michaels hit his sixth home run. He connected off Ron Flores (0-2), extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

Detroit 5, Texas 2: Kenny Rogers (2-0) allowed one run over six innings in his first home start since shoulder surgery, leading the Tigers to a win as -220 home favorites. Rogers missed the first 12 weeks of the season after surgery to remove a blood clot from his throwing shoulder. When the lefthander returned last week, he gave up two hits in six shutout innings at Atlanta.

Minnesota 8, Toronto 5: The Blue Jays' Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run, but it wasn't enough as Torii Hunter went deep twice and Jason Bartlett also connected for the host Twins, -112 favorites.

For complete MLB odds for Friday, visit the Bodog Sportsbook.

PHOTO: Paul Konerko went deep twice for Chicago on Thursday. (AI Wire photo)