White Sox 6, Rays 1: Floyd stars in an easy, breezy Sunday

Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko made nice defensive plays for Gavin Floyd in the top of the first inning.

Then they gave him a pair of solo homers in the bottom of the first.

Floyd took it from there. Those home runs would be all the offense Floyd needed, as he cruised through eight innings. In fact, the one run he allowed he could have prevented - he had Johnny Damon picked off when the fake-to-third-throw-to-first move actually worked. The only problem was he threw the ball away to second, and that allowed Sam Fuld to score.

That gaffe merely spoiled a shutout, as most of the tension had been removed earlier. The White Sox had tacked on four more runs by that point, chasing Jeff Niemann in the third inning.

Sam Fuld's error in the second inning loomed large. What he took away on Saturday, he gave to the Sox on Sunday by dropping Mark Teahen's fly to deep left. Brent Morel followed with a double to right-center, and he came around to score on Juan Pierre's single through the right side.

Throw in Paul Konerko's second homer of the game and an unimpressive Rays lineup, and Floyd had the game in his back pocket. He also had all his pitches working, using his curve, slider and change to great effect. When he introduced the last pitch in the fourth inning, he struck out the side.

Notes:

*The Sox were 0-for-2 stealing bases on Kelly Shoppach.

*Joe Maddon was ejected in the sixth inning following a groundout to first. Doug Eddings had ruled Dan Johnson safe, thinking that Floyd juggled the ball after catching Paul Konerko's toss. Second base umpire Dana DeMuth had a better angle, and saw that Floyd had control of the ball, dropping it only when he transferred the ball to his hand after the out was recorded. Following a conference, Eddings reversed the call and Maddon flipped his lid. He ejected all the umpires.