Beckham evens crosstown series

CHICAGO – An autograph-seeking fan and White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome hardly congratulated Gordon Beckham in kind Saturday night.

Where one mustered just enough courage to tell the Sox third baseman, "Nice game-winning hit," the other lead with his 250 pounds and bolted straight from the dugout.

"Thome in full speed doesn't happen much," Beckham said, "and he moves pretty fast."

Ditto for the first-pitch fastball Beckham slapped into center field against Cubs reliever Jose Ascanio. Challenged in exactly the manner he was anticipating, the rookie answered with a two-out single that gave the Sox an 8-7 victory.

Most of a capacity crosstown series crowd at U.S. Cellular Field screamed as one of the Sox's youngest members tried to remember his lines.

"Usually, in big situations, I like to swing early in case I don't get anything else to hit," said Beckham, still sporting celebratory shaving cream on his face. "I went early, and it worked out. What a moment."

In a game of many rallies, Sox first baseman Paul Konerko started the last one with a one-out single in the ninth against losing pitcher Sean Marshall (3-6). Ascanio relieved Marshall two batters later with the score tied at 7 and walked pinch-hitter Jayson Nix on six pitches.

Enter Beckham and the biggest stage of his 20-game major league career. His second hit of the game helped atone for an earlier error and evened the Sox's all-time interleague record with the Cubs at 35-35.

"It's been just like a playoff atmosphere with the crowd into the game from the first pitch to the last hit," Sox center fielder DeWayne Wise said. "It seemed like every time we took the lead, they would come back and go on top and then we would come back. It was just an exciting game today."

Turning point

The Cubs had scored in three of their past four innings coming into the ninth to keep pace in a game that saw six lead changes and three ties. Sox closer Bobby Jenks (2-2) came in and earned the win with a perfect, no-nonsense inning that included 11 strikes in 14 pitches.

Lou's take

Cubs manager Lou Piniella lamented his team's inability to build on Friday's series-opening win that brought the club back to .500.

"Every time that we seem to feel good about things going our way, something else happens," Piniella said. "It's the [darnedest] thing I've ever seen from that standpoint."

Ozzie's take

The Sox are 8-4 in their past 12 games despite committing seven errors in that span.

"Coming out of spring training, I thought our defense was going to be better than it's been," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "If you're not playing good defense, obviously, your pitching staff is not always going to be good enough [to keep] following and following errors."

Big stat

4-for-5: Sox left fielder Scott Podsednik's day at the plate

Podsednik proved pesky after doubling against Cubs starter Ryan Dempster on the first pitch in the Sox's half of the first, collecting hits on the seventh, fifth and sixth pitches in his next three at-bats. Podsednik nearly clinched the first five-hit game of his career in his final at-bat, but a line drive down the right-field line was foul. He finished his 10th four-hit game with three RBIs and a triple short of the cycle.

On deck

Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs and John Danks of the Sox each will make their second crosstown series start of the season today.

Zambrano (4-2) took a no-decision in the Cubs' 6-5 win June 18, scattering three runs and six hits in seven innings at Wrigley Field. He enters the game with a 5-2 record and 4.39 ERA in 12 career games (10 starts) against the Sox.

Danks (5-6) evened his career interleague record at 2-2 in nine starts with seven innings of one-run, five-hit ball June 17 against the Cubs.