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TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays rookie Marcus Stroman barely had time to find a seat on the bench before his afternoon of hard work was undone.
Dayan Viciedo hit a three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from reliever Dustin McGowan and the Chicago White Sox beat Toronto 4-3 on Saturday.
It's tough to deal with," Stroman said. "It's part of baseball."
Viciedo's blast spoiled an otherwise sparkling performance by Stroman, who allowed two runs and a season-low two hits in 6 2-3 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Even White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, who earned the win, felt bad about Stroman's fate.
"He was great tonight," Sale said. "He threw better than I did. Obviously, you throw like that, you deserve to win a game."
Stroman allowed just two base runners through the first six innings, one of which was erased on an attempted stolen base.
"It didn't look all that great in the beginning," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. (Stroman) was dominant for a while."
Things changed after Stroman got two quick outs in the seventh. Jose Abreu doubled, Adam Dunn walked and McGowan came on to face Viciedo, who drilled a second-deck home run.
"We've been going through some rough times," Viciedo said through a translator. "It's always good to come through."
McGowan (4-3) blew his second straight save opportunity, leaving Blue Jays manager John Gibbons to rue his decision.
"My thinking was, (Stroman) pitched his butt off," Gibbons said. "I don't want him to lose the game right there. That's the way it goes. But you always look back on things like that. I had a plan and it just didn't work."
Viciedo also connected in Friday's 5-4 victory and has gone deep four times in his past 15 games against the Blue Jays. The White Sox are 7-1 this season when Viciedo homers.
Zack Putnam got the final four outs for his first save as Chicago won back-to-back games for the first time since winning two straight over San Francisco on June 17 and 18. It had dropped 11 of 14 before the consecutive victories.
Viciedo's drive helped Chicago overcome a two-run homer by Toronto's Darin Mastroianni in the fourth. Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo before the game, Mastroianni followed a two-out walk with a drive to center off Sale for his first hit of the season. The homer snapped a 0-for-14 slump.
The White Sox extended their lead with a run in the eighth. Singles by Adam Eaton and Gordon Beckham chased McGowan, who was replaced by Aaron Loup. Alexei Ramirez, who had started all 81 games this season but was not in Saturday's lineup, made it 4-2 with a pinch-hit RBI single.
Coming off a no-decision in Baltimore in which he gave up a career-worst 11 hits, Sale (7-1) was more effective against the Blue Jays. The left-hander allowed two runs and four hits, walked a season-high five and struck out six.
"I felt like I had good stuff," Sale said, "I just didn't know where it was going for the most part."
Javy Guerra got one out in the eighth but left after walking Dioner Navarro. Eric Surkamp came on to face pinch-hitter Adam Lind, who struck out on three pitches.
Putnam was brought in to face pinch-hitter Juan Francisco, whose ground-ball single moved Navarro to third. Putnam got out of it when Colby Rasmus flied out.
The White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out against Casey Janssen in the ninth but couldn't score. Tyler Flowers fouled out to shallow right and Leury Garcia grounded into a double play.
"You can't waste those opportunities," manager Robin Ventura said
Pinch-hitter Anthony Gose doubled off Putnam to begin the ninth and scored on Munenori Kawasaki's single. Putnam got Jose Reyes to ground into a fielder's choice and retired Melky Cabrera on a fly ball, then wrapped up his first save by getting Edwin Encarnacion to ground into a fielder's choice.
Stroman
NOTES: Eaton, who left Thursday's game in the first inning with leg cramps and sat out Friday, returned to Chicago's lineup. ... The Blue Jays optioned LHP Rob Rasmussen to Triple-A to make room for Mastroianni. ... White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (4-7) faces Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle (10-4) in Sunday's series finale.
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