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CHICAGO -- Chris Sale left more admirers in his wake after picking up his major league-leading 13th victory on Sunday. The Chicago White Sox left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings on a sticky afternoon before the Toronto Blue Jays broke a shutout with a pair of eighth inning solo home runs.
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But that was all the Blue Jays could manage as Sale and the White Sox cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and their second straight series victory.
"He was tough, he mixes speeds (and) ranges anywhere from 88 to 98 and he knows what he's doing out there," said Troy Tulowitzki, who homered late off Sale. "And everybody knows how good his put away pitches are."
Sale won his fourth straight game, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven in an eight-inning effort. It was his longest since a 2-1 complete game victory over Houston on May 19.
"I felt good, it was nice to get some quick outs," said Sale. "When you get into a groove you just try to ride it out as long as you can."
Sale was in that groove well into the eighth inning before being touched for a pair of runs. Reliever David Robertson worked a perfect ninth for his 20th save.
"(Sale) was fantastic today," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "Like yesterday the ball was going to carry and it was going to be a tough day to pitch. But I think in-and-out with that lineup he got a double play when he needed it and defense was strong as well.
"(And) we scratched across a few runs there and gave him room to work with."
Chicago (38-38) took two of three games from Toronto after winning three of four at Boston. The White Sox have five victories in their last seven games after losing 18 of 24 between May 23 and June 19.
Toronto (41-36) suffered its fifth loss in seven games.
For Sale, the recent rebound has been welcomed.
"This is what we needed, stuff like this is what makes you turn the corner," he said. "It's a breath of fresh air. Anytime you can come in after a couple of good series it picks you up."
The White Sox opened a 1-0 lead in the third inning as Tyler Saladino scored from third on Adam Eaton's sacrifice bunt with one out. Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman scooped up the bunt and fired to Jays catcher Russell Martin, but Saladino eluded the tag.
Eaton made it safely to first while Tim Anderson reached second on the play. Anderson came home on Melky Cabrera's two-out single to right for a 2-0 lead.
Chicago added two more runs in the fifth.
Anderson made it 3-0 with his solo home run off Stroman to begin the inning. The leadoff shot to left was his third homer of the season. Eaton then walked, reached third on Cabrera's single to right and scored on Stroman's one-out wild pitch while facing Todd Frazier.
Stroman (6-4) departed after five innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits, walked four and struck out four while throwing 91 pitches.
"I thought he was okay, I thought he looked really good early," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "I thought his fastball had a little more life to it. Early on his was getting more ground balls, that's a good sign from him and he got a couple of big strikeouts to finish his five innings.
"It's probably not what he wanted, but he drew a tough assignment today too. You almost had to be perfect."
Tulowitzki clubbed his 11th homer of the season in the eighth, a solo shot to left with one out that trim Chicago's lead to 4-1. Junior Lake made it 4-2 with a bases-empty home run to center with two gone.
J.B. Shuck got one run back with a two-out solo home run to right in the eighth off Blue Jays reliever Bo Schultz, called up from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday. It was Shuck's second homer of the season and first time in his career he's homered in back-to-back games.
Cabrera went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Anderson and Shuck each had two hits. Josh Davidson paced the Blue Jays with a pair of singles.
NOTES: The Blue Jays placed RHP Gavin Floyd on the 15-day disabled list after he suffered shoulder tightness during a brief appearance on Saturday and called up RHP Bo Schultz from Triple-A Buffalo, who pitched in Chicago for Sunday's series finale. Schultz had a 4.24 ERA with 14 strikeouts with the Bison. ... Toronto travels to Colorado to open a three-game series on Monday. The Blue Jays send RHP Marco Estrada (5-3, 2.70 ERA) against Rockies RHP Jon Gray (4-3, 4.30). ... The Blue Jays return home Thursday and celebrate Canada Day weekend with a four-game series against Cleveland. ... The White Sox clubbed a franchise record-tying seven home runs in Saturday's 10-8 loss but none were by 3B Todd Frazier, whose 21 before the All-Star Break are the most in franchise history by a third baseman, breaking the mark of 20 set by Bill Melton in 1971. ... Chicago has an off-day on Monday and then hosts the Twins in a three-game series. LHP Jose Quintana (5-7, 3.04) faces Twins RHP Kyle Gibson (0-5, 6.05) in Tuesday's opener.
