Beckham drives in winning run, Podsednik ties career high with 4 hits, White Sox beat Cubs 8-7

Beckham single lifts White Sox over Cubs, 8-7

CHICAGO — Gordon Beckham singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth, and Scott Podsednik homered while tying a career high with four hits to lift the Chicago White Sox to an 8-7 victory over the Cubs on Saturday.

With the game tied at 7, Paul Konerko lined a single to left with one out off Sean Marshall (3-6) to start the winning rally.

Josh Fields ran for him and moved to second on A.J. Pierzynski’s grounder, and Jose Ascanio walked pinch hitter Jayson Nix, who was batting for Chris Getz. Beckham ended it with a long drive to right and got mobbed near second base by his teammates.

The dramatic game came on the heels of two controversy-filled days for the Cubs, who have now lost five of six.

Milton Bradley started for the Cubs and went 1 for 5 a day after he was sent home by manager Lou Piniella for throwing a temper tantrum in the dugout during Friday’s 5-4 victory. That outburst came a day after news that Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana at the World Baseball Classic.

This time the drama was produced on the field, by two teams refusing to bow quietly.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle and the Cubs’ Ryan Dempster were shaky, but Podsednik was at his best. He drove in three runs while scoring two and just missed a possible triple before flying out in the eighth, when his shot down the right-field line landed about a foot foul.

Even so, the White Sox nearly lost thanks to three errors that resulted in three unearned runs.

With the game tied at 6, shortstop Alexei Ramirez threw wide to first after fielding Ryan Freel’s leadoff grounder in the eighth for his second error. Aaron Poreda relieved D.J. Carrasco, and Kosuke Fukudome singled after fouling off two bunt attempts, putting runners on first and third.

With the infield in, Freel scored on Andres Blanco’s grounder to short, breaking to the plate after Ramirez threw to first and sliding in to beat a high throw from Paul Konerko to make it 7-6, but Carlos Marmol couldn’t hold it.

Ramirez made up for his defensive gaffes when he singled in Beckham with two out. Kosuke Fukudome then made a leaping catch against the center-field wall to rob Jermaine Dye of an extra-base hit.

Bobby Jenks (2-2) retired the Cubs in the ninth before the White Sox pulled it out in the bottom half.

NOTES: This was Podsednik’s 10th career four-hit game, the previous one coming May 25 at the Los Angeles Angels. … Ramirez robbed Blanco of a single when he dove to his right to stab a grounder and fired to first from his knees for the third out in the fourth. … Buehrle allowed five runs (three earned) and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. … Dempster lasted five innings, allowing eight hits and five runs.