CLEVELAND — Ubaldo Jimenez’s final home start of the season looked like most of his other games with the Indians.
The right-handed flamethrower was overpowering at times, but couldn’t avoid one bad inning.
Alejandro De Aza ripped a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the seventh Wednesday, propelling the Chicago White Sox to an 8-4 win over the Tribe.
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Jimenez entered the inning with a 2-1 lead, but took the loss after allowing an RBI double to Brent Morel and De Aza’s drive to the base of the wall in left-center field. He exited at the end of the seventh with Cleveland trailing 4-2.
“I just lost the control, I lost my radar,” said Jimenez, who fell to 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA in 10 appearances with the Indians. “Tonight was probably the best game I’ve had here until then because I was throwing good sliders and my fastball was working.
“I didn’t get tired in the seventh. I felt good. I just tried to go up and in on De Aza, but it didn’t happen and he hit it.”
Jimenez (10-12, 4.52 ERA) allowed four earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out seven in a 113-pitch outing. He was in position to get the win after Tribe designated hitter Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, erasing Chicago’s 1-0 lead.
Hafner’s 360-foot shot to right also convinced Cleveland manager Manny Acta to keep Jimenez in the game, which he attributed to his status as the team’s ace. He was acquired from Colorado on July 31 in exchange for pitching prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, and two other minor leaguers.
“I thought Ubaldo threw the ball well, and he was cruising pretty much until the seventh there,” Acta said. “I tried to stretch him a bit like a top of the rotation guy, but it just backfired on us.
“You want to give him a chance to win the ballgame, but he missed his location a couple of times. I feel bad myself because I wanted to push him, and he couldn’t do it.”
After Chicago reclaimed the lead off Jimenez, it blew the game wide open in the eighth against Indians reliever Chad Durbin. He surrendered three long home runs — totaling 1,182 feet to Alexei Ramirez, Alex Rios and Morel — and four runs to extend the White Sox’s lead to 8-2.
The Tribe scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kipnis and a single by Carlos Santana, but it was far too little, too late on this quiet fall night.
Chicago left-hander Mark Buehrle (12-9, 3.72) earned the victory with six innings of two-run, four-hit ball. The veteran had lost his first three September starts, but found the magic elixir at Progressive Field in improving to 15-17 all-time against Cleveland.
Jesse Crain, Jason Frasor, Will Ohman and Sergio Santos tossed the final three innings for the White Sox, scattering four hits and a pair of runs, while Frank Herrmann mopped up for the Indians.
“Buehrle just changed speeds and threw strikes tonight,” Hafner said. “You know what you’re going to get when you face him because that’s what he always does.”
Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com.
