SAN FRANCISCO — Robbie Ray matched his season high with nine strikeouts, and the San Francisco Giants beat the lowly Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night.

After failing to get out of the first inning in his last start against the Braves, Ray (3-2) limited Chicago to one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“Man, that was really good,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “And you would expect a guy like him to respond after a tough outing.”

Added Ray: “Felt good. I was excited to get back out because I’ve been working on some stuff over the past week and I was just itching to get back out there and try it out.”

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Up Next

White Sox LHP Garrett Crochet (6-9, 3.61 ERA) seeks his first win since June 7 in Wednesday’s series finale. The Giants counter with RHP Logan Webb (11-8, 3.17 ERA), who is 4-0 with a 0.61 ERA in his last four starts.

Giants Maintain Wild Card Chase

Heliot Ramos drove in two runs as the Giants (65-63) won their third straight game to remain 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final NL wild-card spot.

The White Sox (30-97) lost their fourth in a row and clinched a 14th consecutive series defeat, falling to 3-30 in their last 33 games.

“I think there’s never a margin for error,” Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “You have to play clean baseball. You have to take advantage of opportunities. Usually it’s the team that doesn’t hurt themselves that comes out on top.”

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Giants Take Early Lead

San Francisco took an early lead in the second when Matt Chapman and Mike Yastrzemski hit consecutive one-out singles and Thairo Estrada grounded into a fielder’s choice to produce a run.

Lenyn Sosa tied it in the third with an RBI double.

The Giants regained the lead in the bottom half when White Sox starter Davis Martin walked Ramos with the bases loaded.

Ramos drove in another run in the fifth with an RBI single to center.

Yastrzemski added a run-scoring double in the seventh.

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White Sox Struggle to Generate Offense

Martin (0-2) permitted three runs, two earned, and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.

“(He) did a good job keeping us in that game,” Sizemore said. “We just didn’t get enough hits for him tonight.”

Ryan Walker struck out the side in the ninth for his second save as San Francisco held its opponent under four runs for the sixth straight game.

Trainer’s Room

Giants: C Patrick Bailey was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, and C Jakson Reetz was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento. Melvin didn’t expect the injury to keep Bailey out longer than the mandatory 10 days. “I’m pretty optimistic that on that 10th day he should be ready to go,” he said.