Jose Contreras goes 8 strong innings as White Sox beat Indians 6-2 to complete series sweep

CLEVELAND — Jose Contreras got a rare road win as the right-hander, shipped to the minors earlier this season, pitched eight superb innings and the Chicago White Sox won their fifth straight, 6-2 over the lifeless Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night. Contreras (3-7) improved to 3-2 with a 2.17 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte, a month-long demotion prompted by the 37-year-old opening the season 0-5. The right-hander, who was just 1-6 in his previous 10 road starts, had little trouble with the Indians.

Contreras allowed two runs and five hits, pitching into the eighth for the fourth time since being recalled. He struck out eight and walked one.

Cleveland has dropped five in a row, 13 of 15 and the Indians’ slide into obscurity shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Chicago backup catcher Ramon Castro hit a three-run homer off Jeremy Sowers (2-6) in a four-run sixth as the White Sox improved to 12-4 since June 13 to move within three games of first-place Detroit.

The White Sox completed their first three-game sweep of Cleveland since the final weekend of the 2005 season, when they knocked the Indians out of the playoff race.

Sowers ran into a familiar problem in the sixth inning: the sixth inning.

The left-hander has had trouble getting outs his third time through a lineup and the White Sox tagged him for four runs and five hits to open a 5-1 lead.

Jim Thome and Paul Konerko hit consecutive singles before Castro, batting .105 since being acquired from the New York Mets in May, drove Sowers’ first pitch over the fence in right to make it 4-1. Jayson Nix followed with a double and scored on Gordon Beckham’s single.

Cleveland closed within 5-2 in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Victor Martinez and Shin Soo-Choo.

The Indians came in hitting just .218 (12 of 55) in the previous two games and scored only 11 runs in the past four. They took their first lead of the series in the second, but missed a chance to have a big inning against Contreras.

Jamey Carroll singled and Ben Francisco, in a 4-for-37 slide, doubled to put runners at second and third with nobody out. However, Contreras struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and gave up Grady Sizemore’s RBI groundout before retiring Martinez on a fly ball to left.

The White Sox tied it in the fifth on Alexei Ramirez’s two-out RBI single.

NOTES: Ramirez left in the middle of the eighth with an apparent right hand injury. … Thome recorded his 1,600th walk, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Stan Musial for 12th on the career list. Next up is Darrell Evans (1,605). … The Indians received favorable reports on RHP Fausto Carmona, who had his second straight strong minor league start Tuesday. The former 19-game winner is trying to get back to the majors. Manager Eric Wedge said there is no timetable on Carmona’s return, but the club has been encouraged by his progress. … Cleveland has used a major league-high 25 pitchers. … The White Sox will play their next 10 games against AL Central opponents, a stretch manager Ozzie Guillen said will determine how active the club might be before the July 31 trading deadline.