Flexen and DeJong help the White Sox beat the Rays 4-1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Chris Flexen pitched six sharp innings, Paul DeJong homered again and the Chicago White Sox avoided their seventh sweep this season by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday night.

The AL-worst White Sox (9-28) won the season series 4-2. Chicago swept a three-game home set with the Rays from April 26-28.

“Clean baseball all the way around.” Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said. “Opportunistic hitting. Really good pitching.”

Flexen (2-3) struck out eight while surrendering one run and three hits. The right-hander tossed five scoreless innings in a 9-4 win over Tampa Bay on April 26.

“He has kind of had our number,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s kept us off balance quite a bit. Mixed very well against us and kind of given us fits.”

Flexen walked one.

“Just trying to be consistent,” Flexen said. “Every time I go out there I’m always trying to put us in position to win. My game is command the zone, try to minimize the walks.”

Michael Kopech, the third Chicago reliever, handled the ninth for his third save in four chances, finishing a four-hitter.

DeJong hit a two-run drive off Aaron Civale (2-3) in the fifth, lifting the White Sox to a 2-1 lead. He also went deep during Tuesday night's 5-1 loss.

Civale was pulled in the fifth inning for the fourth consecutive start. The right-hander was charged with two runs and five hits.

"It’s probably more coincidence than anything," Cash said.

He has pitched five innings or less in 13 of 18 starts since being acquired from Cleveland at last year’s trade deadline.

Civale was replaced by Kevin Kelly with two on and two outs. Andrew Vaughn then reached on an infield single, loading the bases, but Eloy Jiménez struck out looking.

Sixth-inning RBI singles by Bryan Ramos and Tommy Pham lifted Chicago to a 4-1 lead.

Ramos is hitting .357 (5 for 14) in five games since being called up from Double-A Birmingham on Saturday. His double in the two-run fifth hit off the wall in left and just missed becoming his first big league homer.

“Two more pushups, and that's a homer,” Ramos said with a smile.

Flexen retired his first nine batters before Yandy Díaz opened the fourth with a single and scored on Isaac Paredes’ double. All three Tampa Bay hits off of him came in the inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Grifol said OF Luis Robert Jr. (right hip flexor strain) has bounced back from a setback earlier this week. ... INF Danny Mendick (lower back) is nearing a minor league rehab assignment.

Rays: RHP Ryan Pepiot (bruised lower left leg) was placed on the 15-day IL. Cash and Pepiot both believe it is a short-term injury. ... Closer Pete Fairbanks (nerve-related hand issues) is set to have his second outing Thursday night with Triple-A Durham.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Erick Fedde (2-0, 3.46 ERA) and Cleveland RHP Ben Lively (1-1, 2.08 ERA) are Thursday night’s starters.

Rays: RHP Taj Bradley (right pectoral strain) will make his season debut Friday night against the New York Yankees.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos celebrates his double off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Isaac Paredes lines an RBI double off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale delivers to the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jimenez celebrates with first base coach/outfield coach Jason Bourgeois (38) after hitting a single off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Diaz celebrates his single off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chicago White Sox's Chris Flexen pitches to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chicago White Sox's Paul DeJong watches his two-run home run off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale waits for a new baseball as Chicago White Sox's Paul DeJong runs around the bases after his two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Taj Bradley has a paper cup stuck to his hat as a prank by teammates during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chicago White Sox's Paul DeJong (29) celebrates with Bryan Ramos (44) after DeJong hit a two-run home run off Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale, left, gets taken out of the game against the Chicago White Sox by manager Kevin Cash, right, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a new encampment at Drexel University in Philadelphia over the weekend, prompting a lockdown of school buildings, a day after authorities thwarted an attempted occupation of a school building at the neighboring University of Pennsylvania campus.

After several hundred demonstrators marched from Philadelphia’s City Hall to west Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, Drexel said in a statement that about 75 protesters began to set up an encampment on the Korman Quad on the campus. About a dozen tents remained Sunday, blocked off by barricades and monitored by police officers. No arrests were reported.

Drexel President John Fry said in a message Saturday night that the encampment “raises understandable concerns about ensuring everyone’s safety,” citing what he called “many well-documented instances of hateful speech and intimidating behavior at other campus demonstrations.” University buildings were “open only to those with clearance from Drexel’s Public Safety,” he said.

Authorities at Drexel, which has about 22,000 students, were monitoring the demonstration to ensure it was peaceful and didn’t disrupt normal operations, and that “participants and passersby will behave respectfully toward one another,” Fry said.

“We will be prepared to respond quickly to any disruptive or threatening behavior by anyone,” Fry said, vowing not to tolerate property destruction, “harassment or intimidation” of students or staff or threatening behavior of any kind, including “explicitly racist, antisemitic, or Islamophobic” speech. Anyone not part of the Drexel community would not be allowed “to trespass into our buildings and student residences,” he said.

On Friday night, members of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine had announced an action at the University of Pennsylvania’s Fisher-Bennett Hall, urging supporters to bring “flags, pots, pans, noise-makers, megaphones” and other items.

The university said campus police, supported by city police, removed the demonstrators Friday night, arresting 19 people, including six University of Pennsylvania students. The university’s division of public safety said officials found “lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields,” and exit doors secured with zip ties and barbed wire, windows covered with newspaper and cardboard and entrances blocked.

Authorities said seven people arrested would face felony charges, including one accused of having assaulted an officer, while a dozen were issued citations for failing to disperse and follow police commands.

The attempted occupation of the building came a week after city and campus police broke up a two-week encampment on the campus, arresting 33 people, nine of whom were students and two dozen of whom had “no Penn affiliation,” according to university officials.

On Sunday, dozens of George Washington University graduates walked out of commencement ceremonies, disrupting university President Ellen Granberg’s speech, in protest over the ongoing siege of Gaza and last week’s clearing of an on-campus protest encampment that involved police use of pepper spray and dozens of arrests.

The ceremony, at the base of the Washington Monument, started peacefully with fewer than 100 protesters demonstrating across the street in front of the Museum of African American History and Culture. But as Granberg began speaking, at least 70 students among the graduates started chanting and raising signs and Palestinian flags. The students then noisily walked out as Granberg spoke, crossing the street to a rapturous response from the protesters.

Students and others have set up tent encampments on campuses around the country to protest the Israel-Hamas war , pressing colleges to cut financial ties with Israel. Tensions over the war have been high on campuses since the fall but demonstrations spread quickly following an April 18 police crackdown on an encampment at Columbia University.

Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested on U.S. campuses over the past month. As summer break approaches, there have been fewer new arrests and campuses have been calmer. Still, colleges have been vigilant for disruptions to commencement ceremonies.

President Joe Biden told the graduating class at Morehouse College on Sunday, which included some students wearing keffiyeh scarves around their shoulders on top of their black graduation robes, that he heard their voices of protest and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza have been heartbreaking. He said given what he called a “humanitarian crisis” there, he had called for “an immediate cease-fire” and return of hostages taken by Hamas.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, while Israel’s military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

George Washington University students walk out in a pro-Palestinian protest during the commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

George Washington University students carrying a Palestinian flag walk out in protest during the commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Pro-Palestinian supporters protest near the commencement at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

George Washington University students walk out in a pro-Palestinian protest during the commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

George Washington University students carrying signs walk out during a pro-Palestinian protest during a commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - A George Washington University student gestures in protest during George Washington University President Ellen Granberg's speech as students walk out in a pro-Palestinian demonstration during the commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A George Washington University student with hands painted red walks out with other graduates in a pro-Palestinian protest during the commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

George Washington University students carry a sign during a pro-Palestinian protest as George Washington University President Ellen Granberg speaks at a commencement ceremony in Washington, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Joe Biden receives an honorary degree at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside the gates to the courtyard at the University of Pennsylvania Museum on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Philadelphia. Authorities say a half-dozen University of Pennsylvania students were among 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an attempt to occupy a building on campus. University police say seven remained in custody Saturday awaiting felony charges from Friday's incident, including one person who allegedly assaulted an officer. (Charles Fox/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

A protester is taken into custody at S. 34th St. near University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia on Friday, May 17, 2024. Authorities say a half-dozen University of Pennsylvania students were among 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an attempt to occupy a building on campus. University police say seven remained in custody Saturday awaiting felony charges from Friday's incident, including one person who allegedly assaulted an officer. (Steven M. Falk/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)