lso knows MLS. Canada hosts Jamaica in an international friendly Tues

CHICAGO - After the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 Wednesday night, Nelson Cruz said he was more focused on the team than any personal accomplishments. Chicago White Sox Pro Shop . Thats not a bad way to be with the Orioles these days. Cruz took the major league lead with his 33rd home run and the surging Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox. Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also homered as the Orioles won their fourth straight and extended their AL East lead to nine games over second-place Toronto. Cruz matched his career high for homers and moved one ahead of White Sox rookie Jose Abreu and Miamis Giancarlo Stanton. "Its just personal stuff. Im happy because were winning," Cruz said. "Thats the main goal here." Its clear then that the Orioles are reaching plenty of their goals. Baltimore posted its first sweep in Chicago over the White Sox since July 1995. And it did so thanks to its power — the Orioles hit three homers off Hector Noesi (7-9) and lead baseball with 161. Baltimore also got plenty of pitching, with Wei-Yin Chen (13-4) going 7 1-3 innings and allowing three runs and six hits before Zach Britton picked up his 27th save in 30 tries. That was good news for the noisy, orange-clad Orioles fans who made up a decent portion of the crowd and saw their team improve to 39-26 on the road. "If you pitch well, you give yourself some opportunities," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Theres some things we werent perfect at tonight. When you pitch well, it can cover some things and when you catch the baseball." Chen fell behind early when he allowed a two-run homer in the first to Avisail Garcia and left in the eighth leading 4-3 after allowing one-out singles to Alexei Ramirez and Alejandro De Aza. But Darren ODay struck out Abreu then Garcia to end the threat. "Thats a tough spot for them and (ODay) came through big," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "You get a guy, a sidewinder like that, its a tough at-bat for those guys." Noesi went seven innings as the White Sox fell a season-high nine games below .500. "You know, when you miss a pitch, you miss the location they go for it," Noesi said. TRAINERS ROOM Orioles: 3B Manny Machado reported his sprained right ankle had been slow to respond to treatment and exercises. White Sox: General manager Rick Hahn said OF Adam Eaton (strained right oblique) could be off the disabled list next week and will go on a rehab assignment soon. UP NEXT Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman (7-4, 3.70) faces Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (6-4, 2.61) on Friday at Wrigley Field. Arrieta spent parts of four seasons with the Orioles before being traded last July to Chicago. White Sox: LHP John Danks (9-8, 4.94) faces Yankees RHP Shane Greene (3-1, 2.91) on Friday in New York. Danks is 2-2 with a 6.20 ERA since July 1. CLOSE TO HOME Curt Schillings revelation of oral cancer hit home to Showalter, who called the ex-pitcher "one of the favourite players I ever had (managed)." Schilling blamed his condition on smokeless tobacco, which Showalter said he used occasionally. "Its a very serious issue," Showalter said. COMING ATTRACTION There has been speculation that Carlos Rodon, the No. 3 overall pick in this years draft, could be called up by the White Sox before the end of the season. But Hahn said "there is nothing set in stone in terms of him coming here or not coming here." Cheap White Sox Jerseys .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Chicago White Sox Gear . The Wizards gave up two seldom-used players — forward Jan Vesely and point guard Eric Maynor. Vesely goes to the Nuggets, while Maynor gets shipped to the 76ers. Philadelphia receives two second-round draft picks, one from the Wizards in 2015 and one from the Nuggets in 2016. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/ .A. Dickey earned an American League Gold Glove on Tuesday to become the first Toronto Blue Jays pitcher to win the award.ALLISTON, Ont. - Veteran Canadian international Julian de Guzman put soccer on hold this summer to focus on family. The 33-year-old midfielder, who has won 71 caps for Canada, finished out the 2013-14 season with Greeces Skoda Xanthi. Then he stowed his football boots. "For the first time in 17 years in my career, I finally put somebody or something before football. That was my kids," he said. "I havent spent a lot of time with them, especially during my career, with all the travel and playing abroad. But I made a promise to them." His children — daughter Liya Sade is 9 and son Julian Bobby is 6 — live with their mother in Saarbrucken, Germany. De Guzmans career has taken him to Germany (FC Saarbrucken and Hannover 96), Spain (Deportivo la Coruna), Major League Soccer (FC Dallas and Toronto) and most recently Germany (Jahn Regensburg) and Greece. The farther from Germany, the less he was able to see family. But he did his best to make up for it this summer. After finishing out the season in Greece, de Guzman flew to Brazil for 2 1/2 weeks, watching younger brother Jonathan play for the Netherlands in the World Cup. Jonathan, Toronto-born like his brother, earned his Dutch citizenship with his time as Feyenoord but now plays for Napoli in Italy. After the tournament, the two brothers and their kids holidayed with the grandparents in Ibiza, Spain. Then de Guzman brought his kids back to Canada. "Their dream land is Canada or Toronto," he said after a Canada practice at the teams training home north of Toronto. "So I promised them I would bring them there and spent about a month in Toronto. Got to enjoy their time with the family there, as well. Now that they start school, I could put football back as No. 1 priority. "After that experience with the kids, I definitely feel refreshed, ready to go again. White Sox Jerseys 2019. And I had a chance to get some training in as well when I had them in Germany before coming to Canada. Im very, very excited for this new season ahead of me." De Guzman is learning away from the field, as well. His daughter is akin to a teenager, he says, and has been after him to spend more time with them. "She needs that father figure, so I have to make myself available as much as possible." After his stint in MLS, where he rarely saw the kids, de Guzman opted to return to Germany to be closer to them. He spent six months with Regensburg before heading to Greece. Xanthi wanted him back for another season, at a slightly reduced salary, but de Guzman resisted because the travel time to his family was eight to 10 hours with connections. As he searches for a new club, he has been looking at German third-division teams. His age is working against him and they are cheaper alternatives, he admits. "Germany now has gone for the younger generation," he said. Austria or Switzerland would also work. "Anything close to Germany," he said. De Guzman has it down to available flights. "Direct flights to Frankfurt (150 kilometres from Saarbrucken) would be something." He has had offers from Greece, but none so far have ticked those boxes. In the meantime, de Guzman continues to play a valuable role for Canada. He plays holding midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 formation and, thanks to his experience in Spain and ability to speak Spanish, can help coach Benito Floro get his message across. Given his experience in Europe, de Guzman is also much appreciated by younger teammates who can use him as a sounding board for their career and travels. Toronto FCs first designated player, he also knows MLS. Canada hosts Jamaica in an international friendly Tuesday at BMO Field in Toronto. ' ' '