Inland Waterways » in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver

CHICAGO -- In his first at-bat Monday night, Tyler Flowers of the Chicago White Sox hit a drive that bounced off the top of the wall in right field and back into play. He had to stop at third base with a triple. Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre told Flowers it was too bad he didnt get credit for a home run. "I was like, Im not too worried about it," the catcher said. "Ill probably hit another homer. I dont know if Ill get another triple." Indeed. Flowers homered in his next at-bat, drove in three runs and combined with rookie slugger Jose Abreu, who had two hits and two RBIs, to lead the White Sox to a rain-shortened 5-3 victory over the Rangers. The game was called in the bottom of the seventh inning following a 57-minute delay. Flowers went 3 for 3 to raise his batting average to .252 after it dropped to .213 last month. He scored two runs as the White Sox snapped a two-game losing streak. "Tyler had a great night," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "The way hes been swinging the bat and doing things, you feel pretty confident when he goes up there." Abreu, who has 86 RBIs, went 2 for 3 on a day when he named the American Leagues player and rookie of the month for July. Rougned Odor had a two-run homer for Texas, which has lost four straight. Hector Noesi (6-8) bounced back from a rough outing at Detroit in his last start -- six runs in six innings -- to allow one earned run and four hits in seven innings. He was credited with a complete game because the game was called. Texas starter Nick Martinez (1-8) allowed five runs and eight hits in five-plus innings. The rookie has lost his last seven decisions. The White Sox, who trailed 3-0 early, pulled within a run on a two-run single by Abreu in the third inning and tied it in the fifth on a leadoff homer by Flowers. In the sixth, with the rain starting to fall, Dayan Viciedo led off with a single and Conor Gillaspie followed with a double to knock out Martinez. With the infield playing in, right-hander Nate Adcock came on to strike out Gordon Beckham and Alejandro De Aza, but Flowers came through with a two-out single to drive in both runs for a 5-3 Chicago lead. "We were close to getting out of that inning," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "We just didnt execute our last pitch and Flowers, who was the star of the game tonight, took advantage of it." The score was 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh when the rain intensified and the game was delayed for the second time. There was a 22-minute delay at the start even though it wasnt raining because of showers in the vicinity. AWARD WINNING Abreu, who batted .374 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in July, is the first rookie to win the player of the month award twice and fourth to be named rookie of the month three times. The Cuban slugger, who entered the game leading the majors in homers and RBIs, was asked if he is surprised by his sudden success. "I dont really like to talk about myself, but I am surprised," he said through a translator. "I wasnt expecting to have all this success, definitely not all these awards." TRAINERS ROOM Rangers: Catcher Geovany Soto (strained groin) is expected to be activated for the series with the Houston Astros starting on Friday. White Sox: De Aza left the game after the sixth inning with a bruised left knee after fouling a pitch off his leg. Right-hander Zach Putnam (shoulder inflammation) is expected to be activated from the 15-day disabled when hes eligible to come off on Friday. Putnam has a 3-2 record with three saves and a 2.35 ERA and is one of the few bright spots in the bullpen this season. "Hes throwing tomorrow, so he should be available when his times up," Ventura said. ON DECK Right-hander Colby Lewis (7-8, 5.98) faces left-hander John Danks (9-6, 4.50) in the second game of the three-game set on Tuesday. Laurie Boschman Jets Jersey . Ashley Wagner will skate in the womens short program for a U.S. team thats in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver medal at the Vancouver Games and are two-time world champions. Kyle Connor Jersey . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-laurent-brossoit-jets-jersey/ . The second-ranked Jayhawks will play the Miners of Texas-El Paso at Imperial Arena in the Bahamas. The game can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. Logan Stanley Jets Jersey . The 7-foot-1 Hawes, who is in the final year of his contract, is averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds, both career highs, and shoots 40 per cent from 3-point range. The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season. LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are showing no signs of slowing down. Clayton Kershaw lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.88 with eight innings of three-hit ball and had a two-run single, and the Dodgers increased their NL West lead to a season-best 7 1/2 games Sunday night with an 8-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. "When you rattle off a streak like the one were on right now, its probably a little more than luck," Kershaw said. "Were a pretty good team right now, and its a lot of fun coming to the yard every day and winning games. I think the guys in this clubhouse realize that weve got a pretty good opportunity here that we dont want to waste." Mark Ellis had a homer and three RBIs to help Los Angeles complete the three-game sweep. The Dodgers improved to a major league-best 37-8 since June 22, including a franchise-record 15-game road winning streak. At the lowest point, they trailed Arizona by 9 1/2 games. "Weve got 40-plus games left and we play the Diamondbacks a lot more, so it doesnt really matter what kind of lead we have now," Kershaw said. The Rays lost their season-worst fifth in a row, but remained three games behind AL East-leading Boston following the Red Soxs loss at Kansas City. "It definitely adds confidence," catcher A.J. Ellis said after the Dodgers improved to a season-best 17 games over .500. "Weve been playing two of the better teams in baseball this week, including the Cardinals -- and Tampa Bay was one of the hottest teams in the American League coming in. So this was a big stretch for us." Kershaw (11-7) allowed two runs -- one earned -- and struck out eight to help the Dodgers complete their seventh series sweep of the season. Tampa Bays only hits off the left-hander through the first seven innings came in the fifth, a leadoff single by Yunel Escobar and a two-out triple by pinch-hitter Sam Fuld. The Rays loaded the bases with none out in the eighth and rookie Wil Myers drove in their second run with a sacrifice fly. The run was unearned because of shortstop Dee Gordons fielding error. Gordon also committed throw errors in the third and sixth innings, but Kershaw erased both mistakes by retiring the next batter on a double-play grounder. The Dodgers finished their interleague schedule 11-6, their first winning record against AL clubs since going 10-8 in 2004, and the Rays completed their interleague slate 12-8. Kershaw is 6-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 17 career interleague starts, striking out 116 batters in 111 1-3 innings. Jeremy Hellickson (10-6) gave up four runs and seven hits through three innings in his first career start against the Dodgers, marking the sixth time in Tampa Bays last nine games that its starting pitcher didnt last five innings. The right-handers 4.93 ERA is the highest among major league pitchers withh at least 10 wins.dddddddddddd. Hellickson has surrendered 13 runs in 12 innings over his last three starts, after going 6-0 with a 2.09 ERA in his previous seven outings. He is 1-6 with a 7.19 ERA in 10 career interleague outings. "Im not pitching well," Hellickson said. "The last few games Ive been in spots where I need to make a big pitch with two out to get me deeper into the game, and every time I didnt get the job done. Tonight I felt good with all three of my pitches and I thought the command was there, but I lust left some balls up in that second inning and couldnt get that big out with two outs. The last two weeks have been very frustrating, but Ill be OK." Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis opened the Dodgers three-run second inning with singles, and both advanced on Juan Uribes third sacrifice bunt of the season before Kershaw drove them in with a sharp two-out single through the left side of the infield. Carl Crawford then singled and Mark Ellis doubled home Kershaw. "We watched a lot of film on Hellickson. This guys got an amazing sinker, works both sides of the plate, and when his changeup is right is really a difference maker," A.J. Ellis said. "But tonight we were just looking for balls up in the middle of the zone." A.J. Ellis made it 4-0 in the third with a sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers tacked on two more in the fourth on a two-out double by Adrian Gonzalez that raised his team-high RBI total to 74. Mark Ellis added his sixth homer in the sixth, a two-run shot against Josh Lueke. "It was a fun night all the way around," Kershaw said. "We got some big hits when we needed to and put some runs on the board early. But the important thing is that we got a win." Kershaw faced an all-right-handed lineup that included switch-hitters Ben Zobrist and Jose Lobaton. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon had his starting pitcher bat eighth ahead of left fielder Jason Bourgeois. Hellickson, who came in with one hit in five big league at-bats, struck out looking his only time up. He was the fourth AL pitcher to bat higher than ninth since interleague play began in 1977, along with David Phelps for the Yankees on May 8, Zack Greinke for Kansas City in 2009, and Andy Sonnanstine for the Rays in 2009. Sonnanstine had to bat third that day because of a lineup mistake by Maddon that had Zobrist and Evan Longoria both starting at third base. As a result, the Rays were forced to lose their designated hitter -- Longoria -- for the entire game. NOTES: Kershaw is 49-0 in his career when the Dodgers score four or more runs while he is still in the game. ... Los Angeles Yasiel Puig was intentionally walked for the fourth time in the series -- two more than he had in his 57 previous big league games combined. ' ' '