Jim Thome hit his 512th career home run yesterday to lift the White Sox in a 6-0 win over the Rays. Thome had been hitting .172 for the season going in to the game, but raised that to .222 with his four-for-five, three RBI performance. He has been hot and cold to start the season, but has now hit five home runs and sixteen RBI despite the low batting average. With no signs of any injury yet this year, he could be on the way to the higher end of the 22-34 HR scale that projections have predicted for him. Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski, who are leading Chicago with .344 and .339 averages, respectively, went two-for-five with two RBI and two-for-four with one RBI (also respectively) to account for Chicago’s three other non-Thome runs.

Tampa Bay was kept to four hits by the combined pitching of starter John Danks and reliever Boone Logan; the only four Rays to reach base were the top four of the order: Aknori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Peña.