Sox put on their rally caps
Walk- off 2- run double by Cabrera highlights 9th- inning comeback
The White Sox’ Melky Cabrera felt a rush of adrenaline after he smacked a game- winning double down the right- field line.
Moments later, as his teammates stormed out of the dugout to mob him, he also felt fear.
‘‘ I thought that they were trying to take off my jersey,’’ a smiling Cabrera said through an interpreter. ‘‘ And I didn’t have anything beneath my jersey.’’
Cabrera’s two- run double in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a wild comeback by the Sox, who scored the final five runs of the game for an 8- 7 victory against the Rangers. It was the Sox’ third walkoff victory and 14th come- frombehind win of the season.
Todd Frazier belted two home runs to give him 15 on the season, and Jose Abreu hit his 14th homer and first of the season at Guaranteed Rate Field.
‘‘ When he hit it, we were talking about getting the baseball,’’ manager Rick Renteria joked.
The Sox won despite the absence of outfielder Avisail Garcia ( sore knee). Shortstop Tim Anderson was held out of the lineup for a second consecutive day but entered the game as a pinch runner in the ninth.
Adam Engel led off the ninth with a single. An out later, Willy Garcia and Alen Hanson singled to set up Cabrera’s game- winner against Rangers closer Matt Bush.
Cabrera’s hit scored Anderson and Hanson, who belly- flopped across home plate for the winning run as the ball squirted away from catcher Jonathan Lucroy.
‘‘ They don’t quit,’’ Renteria said. ‘‘ They’ve never quit all season long, regardless of the circumstance or the situation. I still say we’ve probably had a handful of games that I thought were very poorly played or just out of character, but they don’t quit. They give you a good opportunity, a good chance, every single time they go out there and play.’’
Relievers Juan Minaya, David Holmberg and Anthony Swarzak combined to pitch 3„ scoreless innings to make the comeback possible. Swarzak ( 4- 2) struck out the side in the top of the ninth.
The bullpen’s effort bailed out starter Mike Pelfrey, who allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings.
‘‘ Nobody is giving up,’’ Swarzak said. ‘‘ We played some really close games against the Yankees, also. It seems like when guys are going to their big arms in the bullpen, we’re bearing down and not rolling over for anybody. It’s fun to watch.
‘‘ This team has got a lot of talent and a lot of fire. I love it. We’re a scrappy little team. You look at our lineup on paper, we’ve got the names. We do. We don’t have the notoriety, for whatever reason, but there’s nobody in this clubhouse that thinks we can’t get the job done every night. It’s just that we’ve all got to click at the right time.’’
Swarzak knows the Sox have been labeled as a rebuilding team. He respectfully disagrees.
‘‘ I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the media has got to say something,’’ Swarzak said. ‘‘ The media has to say something every day, and they can’t say what they said the day before. Right now, that’s what they’re saying.
‘‘ I don’t know if that’s what they’re going to be saying in a couple of months, though, because we’re not going anywhere. I firmly believe that.’’
Frazier said he was happiest for younger players such as Engel and Hanson.
‘‘[ It’s] that no- quit attitude we have,’’ he said. ‘‘ It’s exciting to see some of the younger guys taking care of business at the end.’’