Suárez, Pederson homer, Nelson goes 6 innings in Diamondbacks' 7-1 victory over White Sox

PHOENIX -- — Eugenio Suárez homered, Ryne Nelson pitched six solid innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago White Sox 7-1 on Friday night for their fourth victory in five games and ninth in 13.

Nelson (4-5) allowed six hits, walked one and struck out a career-high eight. He threw 95 pitches.

“The curveball and the slider were both really good tonight,” Nelson said. “It allowed more freedom with the fastball. We’ve been trying to find a spin pitch to use to keep ourselves from being one-dimensional.”

Catcher Tucker Barnhart agreed.

“Everything was working," Barnhart said. "He did a really great job of pounding the strike zone. It’s the best I’ve ever seen his slider. Really happy for him to be able to execute it.”

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol also was impressed.

“He pitched up in the zone and we chased a little bit," Grifol said. "It looked like he commanded the fastball. He mixed it up pretty good.”

Suárez, who entered the game batting .195 and has seen his playing time decrease, connected to left-center off Chris Flexen for his sixth of the season to begin the fourth inning.

Flexen (2-6) was pulled later in the inning, having allowed nine hits and six runs — four earned — while walking two and striking out two.

“That was a rough one,” Flexen said. “Terrible execution, especially in the big moments. Bad performance.”

Joc Pederson hit a towering home run leading off the seventh against Michael Soroka. It was Pederson’s ninth homer of the season and second in two nights — he hit a grand slam Thursday night in a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Chicago, after a victory Thursday in Seattle, went back to its losing ways. The White Sox have lost five of six and 23 of their last 27. They’re 6-30 on the road and, at 18-53 (.253), are off to the worst start in franchise history.

Chicago took the lead in the second on Nicky Lopez’s RBI single, but the offense fizzled after that. Arizona came back with two in its half of the second on Tucker Barnhart’s two-run single.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled home a run in the third and Corbin Carroll and Pederson had RBI in the fourth.

The White Sox did not hit any home runs, snapping their streak of 14 games with a homer, which was tied for the longest in the majors this season.

ALL IN THE PHAM

The White Sox activated OF Tommy Pham from a rehab assignment. He had been out since June 2 with a sprained left ankle. Chicago also called up RHP Chad Kuhl from Triple-A Charlotte.

Pham, batting .280 with three home runs for the White Sox this season, finished last season with the Diamondbacks after being acquired from the New York Mets. He hit six homers in 50 games for Arizona and hit .279 with three homers in 16 postseason games as Arizona advanced all the way to the World Series.

Pham went 1 for 4 on Friday, leading off the game with a single. He did not speak to the media after the game.

Before Friday’s game, Pham received his National League championship ring from Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

“We couldn’t have done it without him,” Lovullo said before the game. “I’m a huge fan.”

Kuhl, a seven-year veteran, previously pitched for Pittsburgh, Colorado and Washington. He was 0-4 with a 8.45 ERA in 16 games with the Nationals last season.

To make room, the White Sox optioned OF Zach DeLoach and RHP Jordan Leasure to Charlotte.

NEXT

RHP Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.10) will start Saturday for the White Sox. The Diamondbacks will use RHP Scott McGough (1-3, 5.85) as an opener.

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