InfoBeat Major League Baseball Thursday, September 7, 2000

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Thursday's Games
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**CHICAGO WHITE SOX 10, Texas Rangers 6
**HOUSTON ASTROS 7, Florida Marlins 3
**New York Yankees 7, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 3


CHICAGO 10, TEXAS 6

CHICAGO (AP) - Bring on the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White
Sox are ready. Magglio Ordonez homered twice, Carlos Lee hit a
solo shot and Frank Thomas drove in three runs Thursday night as
the White Sox rallied for a 10-6 victory over the Texas Rangers.

The victory, coupled with an Indians' loss, increased Chicago's
lead in the AL Central to 7 1/2 games as the White Sox head to
Cleveland for a three-game series this weekend.

"To go in with that type of lead, that's big," manager Jerry
Manuel said. "That's what we've worked for all year, to make this
series not as huge as they're probably making it out to be."

Lorenzo Barcelo (3-1) gave up one run and two hits in 2 1/3
innings for the White Sox. Keith Foulke got the last five outs
for his 28th save in 33 chances.

Jeff Zimmerman (3-5) only gave up one run in two innings, but it
was Ordonez's two-run homer in the sixth. Ordonez added an
insurance run in the eighth off of Darwin Cubillan.

Texas starter Kenny Rogers retired the first 13 batters he faced
and Ricky Ledee homered as the Rangers took a 4-0 lead. But then
a funny thing happened.

The scoreboard in right field changed. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays,
who had been trailing the Indians 3-0, took a 4-3 lead. As the
Devil Rays rallied, so did the White Sox. They exploded for five
runs in the sixth and another four in the eighth.

Charles Johnson led off the sixth inning with a walk, the first
of the night allowed by Rogers. Then Rogers plunked Ray Durham.
Tony Graffanino hit an RBI single to center, giving the White Sox
runners at the corners with no outs and Thomas up to bat.

Thomas ripped a double to left-center that almost lodged in the
bullpen fence. By the time Ledee got it back to the infield,
Durham and Graffanino had scored and Thomas was standing at
second, clapping his hands. That was it for Rogers, who was
relieved by Zimmerman.

Zimmerman didn't fare much better than Rogers. Ordonez put the
first pitch he saw over the fence in right field for the wo-run
homer, giving the White Sox a 6-5 lead.

"I turned to Carlos and I said, 'I'm going to try and homer,'"
Ordonez said. "I tried to get a good pitch to hit and I homered."

Ordonez didn't make any predictions in the eighth, but the
results were the same as he led off the inning with a homer. Lee
followed with a solo homer of his own, Durham had a sacrifice fly
and Thomas had an RBI single as the White Sox turned a close game
into a rout.

"They got it going, no doubt about it," Texas manager Johnny
Oates said of the White Sox. "They are going to score 1,000 runs
this year."


CHICAGO WHITE SOX 10, Texas Rangers 6

TEXAS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Alicea 2b 5 1 2 1 0 1 .286
Curtis dh 4 0 2 1 0 1 .280
RPalmeiro 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .280
2-Greer pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .298
Waszgis Jr. c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
Kapler rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .290
Haselman c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .273
a-Catalanotto ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .308
Ledee lf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .230
Clayton ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 .241
b-PValdes ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .188
Sheldon 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .286
c-Sierra ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .200
SGreen cf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .192

Totals 37 6 12 5 0 5


CHICAGO AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Durham 2b 3 1 0 1 0 1 .283
Graffanino ss 4 1 2 1 1 0 .287
Thomas dh 5 1 2 3 0 1 .335
MOrdonez rf 5 2 2 3 0 0 .325
CNLee lf 4 2 2 1 0 0 .304
Christensen cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Konerko 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .303
Perry 3b 3 0 0 1 0 1 .299
Singleton cf-lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .253
CJohnson c 1 1 0 0 2 0 .295
1-Paul pr-c 1 0 1 0 0 0 .270

Totals 34 10 12 10 3 4

-------------------------------
Texas 110 021 001- 6 12 0
Chicago 000 015 04x-10 12 1
-------------------------------

a-popped out for Haselman in the 8th. b-doubled for Clayton in
the 9th. c-grounded out for Sheldon in the 9th.

1-ran for C.Johnson in the 7th. 2-ran for Palmeiro in the 8th.

E-Graffanino (3). LOB-Texas 4, Chicago 6. 2B-Kapler (28), PValdes
(1), Sheldon (8), Thomas (39). 3B-Alicea (8). HR-CNLee (23) off
Cubillan; MOrdonez 2 (29) off Cubillan, JRZimmermn; Ledee (12)
off Parque. RBIs-Alicea (58), Curtis (40), Haselman (22), Ledee
(65), SGreen (5), urham (68), Graffanino (14), Thomas 3 (132),
MOrdonez 3 (114), CNLee (86), Perry (53). CS-Haselman (1).
SF-Durham, Perry. GIDP-RPalmeiro 2.

Runners left in scoring position-Texas 1 (Ledee); Chicago 3
(Thomas, MOrdonez 2).

Runners moved up-Sierra, SGreen.

DP-Chicago 3 (Durham, Graffanino and Konerko), (Durham,
Graffanino and Konerko), (CJohnson and Durham).

TEXAS
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Rogers 5 4 5 5 1 3 71 4.63
JRZimmermn L, 3-5 2 2 1 1 1 1 33 5.71
Cubillan 2/3 5 4 4 1 0 27 7.45
JKJohnson 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 9 3.12

CHICAGO
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Parque 5 7 4 4 0 3 73 4.48
Barcelo W, 3-1 2 1/3 2 1 1 0 1 34 3.16
Wunsch 1 0 0 0 0 5 2.89
Foulke S, 28 1 2/3 2 1 1 0 1 20 3.28

Rogers pitched to 4 batters in the 6th, Wunsch pitched to 1
batter in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored-JRZimmermn 1-1, JKJohnson 3-1, Foulke
1-0.

HBP-by Rogers (Durham).

Umpires-Home, Meals; First, Young; Second, Katzenmeier; Third,
Miller.

T-2:49. A-18,219 (44,321).

*** For the Chicago/Texas scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569569122-a6b



HOUSTON 7, FLORIDA 3

HOUSTON (AP) - Chris Truby appreciated his second opportunity to
come through in the clutch.

Truby singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, leading
Scott Elarton and the Houston Astros over the Florida Marlins 7-3
Thursday. Truby's hit came after the Marlins intentionally walked
Mitch Meluskey. In the fourth inning, after an intentional walk
to Meluskey, Truby popped up with the bases loaded.

"I was glad to get another chance. You don't get too many chances
like that and I was kind of upset at myself after the first time
because I swung at some bad pitches," Truby said.

Truby wasn't insulted by the intentional walks to Meluskey.

"You try not to take that angle," Truby said. "You try just to go
up and have a quality at-bat. I told myself just to be patient
and wait until he put a fastball in a good place. It was a good
feeling, especially to help Scott get the win. He deserved it."

Florida interim manager Fredi Gonzalez made the decision to walk
Meluskey. Gonzalez is filling while manager John Boles is in
Chicago with his ailing father.

"I thought we had a better chance with Truby than with Meluskey,"
Gonzalez said. "(Dan) Miceli made a good pitch. He got it in, but
Truby was strong enough to get it over the infield and that
opened up the flood gates."

Elarton (16-5) won for the 12th time in 14 decisions since June
22. He pitched eight innings, giving up three runs and seven
hits.

With the score 3-all, Lance Berkman drew a leadoff walk from
Miceli (6-4) in the Astros eighth and pinch-runner Glen Barker
stole second. After Meluskey was walked, Truby singled.
Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward hit an RBI single and pinch-hitter
Moises Alou had a two-run double.

Jeff Bagwell and Julio Lugo homered in the fifth to put Houston
ahead 3-2. Lugo hit a leadoff home run and Bagwell hit his 41st,
a two-run shot. It was Bagwell's 24th home run in his home park,
breaking his Astros record of 23 home-park homers set in 1994. Heis
two home runs short of matching his tea record of 43 set in
1997.

Derrek Lee led off the Marlins seventh with his 24th home run,
tying it at 3.

Florida took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Alex Gonzalez led off with
a home run, and the Marlins loaded the bases when Henry Rodriguez
walked and Preston Wilson and Mike Lowell singled. Mark Smith hit
an RBI single.


HOUSTON ASTROS 7, Florida Marlins 3

FLORIDA AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
LCastillo 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .346
AGonzalez ss 4 1 1 1 0 0 .206
Rodriguez lf 2 1 1 0 2 1 .258
1-AFox pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233
RCastro c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .227
PWilson cf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .259
Lowell 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .276
MSmith rf-lf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .261
DLLee 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .283
Redmond c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .251
Kotsay rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .289
Dempster p 2 0 1 0 0 1 .090
a-Millar ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .269
Almanza p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Miceli p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Totals 32 3 7 3 2 7


HOUSTON AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Cedeno lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .248
Spiers 2b 3 1 0 0 2 1 .313
Bagwell 1b 4 1 1 2 0 2 .317
Berkman rf 3 0 2 0 1 1 .297
2-GBarker pr-cf 0 1 0 0 0 0 .232
Hidalgo cf-rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .278
Meluskey c 1 1 0 0 3 1 .299
Truby 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .272
Lugo ss 3 1 2 1 0 0 .269
b-DWard ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 .253
Bogar ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .190
Elarton p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .161
c-Alou ph 1 0 1 2 0 0 .360
Dotel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .032

Totals 32 7 9 7 6 8

--------------------------------
Florida 000 200 100-3 7 0
Houston 000 030 04x-7 9 0
--------------------------------

a-grounded out for Dempster in the 7th. b-singled for Lugo in the
8th. c-doubled for Elarton in the 8th.

1-ran for Rodriguez in the 8th. 2-ran for Berkman in the 8th.

LOB-Florida 5, Houston 7. 2B-Hidalgo (33), Alou (24). HR-DLLee
(24) off Elarton; Bagwell (41)off Dempster; Lugo (7) off
Dempster; AGonzalez (6) off Elarton. RBIs-AGonzalez (37), MSmith
(27), DLLee (59), Bagwell 2 (115), Truby (39), Lugo (32), DWard
(43), Alou 2 (92). SB-GBarker (9). GIDP-Lowell.

Runners left in scoring position-Florida 2 (MSmith, Redmond);
Houston 4 (Spiers, Truby 2, Elarton).

Runners moved up-Cedeno.

DP-Houston 2 (Truby and Meluskey), (Truby, Spiers and Bagwell).

FLORIDA
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Dempster 6 6 3 3 4 6 109 3.61
Almanza 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 8 4.46
Miceli L, 6-4 1 1/3 3 4 4 2 1 27 5.13

HOUSTON
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Elarton W, 16-5 8 7 3 3 2 6 124 4.69
Dotel 1 0 0 0 0 1 14 5.04

IBB-off Miceli (Meluskey) 1, off Dempster (Meluskey) 1. HBP-by
Elarton (PWilson).

Umpires-Home, Williams, C.; First, Wolf; Second, Reynolds; Third,
Van Vleet.

T-2:51. A-30,188 (40,950).

*** For the Florida/Houston scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569562973-801



NEW YORK 7, KANSAS CITY 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - For eight innings, the New York Yankees
somehow could not score against Dan Reichert, even though he tied
a Royals record with nine walks. But when the Yankees got help
from Kansas City's bullpen, they took advantage.

David Justice homered to cap a seven-run eruption in the ninth
inning and the Yankees rallied past the Royals 7-3 Thursday
night. Reichert pitched eight scoreless innings despite matching
Dick Drago's team record for walks. He allowed only two hits and
left with a 1-0 edge.

"It's weird how the game of baseball goes," Reichert said. "At
the beginning of the year, if I had walked nine guys we'd be down
9-0. But it worked out for the best today. I think I made some
pretty good pitches when I needed to."

The Kansas City bullpen, however, could not hold the lead.

"It was a big win for us," New York manager Joe Torre said. "Any
game at this point in the schedule is big, especially coming
back."

Jose Canseco drew a leadoff walk in the ninth from Ricky
Bottalico (7-5), and pinch-runner Chuck Knoblauch moved to second
on Scott Brosius' single. That was all for Bottalico, who blew
his eighth save chance in 23 opportunities, and Kris Wilson
relieved.

Pinch-hitter Luis Polonia bunted back to the mound, and Wilson
made a wild throw to third that scored the tying run. Jose
Vizcaino hit an RBI single for a 2-1 lead, Derek Jeter had an RBI
double and Ryan Thompson hit a two-run single. The Royals brought
in Scott Mullen, and Justice hit his 36th homer into the
right-field bullpen.

"We're going to have to find somebody to get some people out,"
Royals manager Tony Muser said. "We need somebody who is
dependable. Late in the game, we need to throw strikes and get
people out."

Mark Quinn and Dave McCarty hit RBI singles in the Royals ninth.
Mariano Rivera relieved for the last out, getting his 33rd save.

Denny Neagle (6-4) allowed two hits through seven innings, then
gave up two more in the eighh that set up the Royals' first run.
CarlosFebles' sacrifice fly scored Joe Randa, who had singled,
to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. Neagle struck out four and walked
none.

"That was definitely an interesting game," Neagle said. "I really
did feel like it wasn't our night. Especially after we have nine
walks and we couldn't get a run across in the first eight
innings, you just felt like it was going to be one of those
nights."


New York Yankees 7, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 3

NEW YORK AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
JVizcaino 2b 4 1 1 1 1 1 .277
Jeter ss 5 1 1 1 0 2 .326
O'Neill rf 2 0 1 0 2 0 .298
1-RThompson pr-cf 1 1 1 2 0 0 .219
TMartinez 1b 4 0 1 0 1 0 .268
Justice lf-rf 3 1 1 2 2 1 .288
Posada c 4 0 0 0 1 2 .298
Canseco dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .254
2-Knoblauch pr-dh 1 1 0 0 0 0 .287
Brosius 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .238
Bellinger cf-lf 1 0 0 0 2 0 .241
a-Polonia ph-lf 1 1 0 0 0 0 .281

Totals 33 7 7 6 10 6


KANSAS CITY AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Damon cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .327
RSanchez ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .265
b-DBrown ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .500
MJSweeney dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 .336
Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .324
Quinn lf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .297
Randa 3b 4 1 3 0 0 0 .297
McCarty 1b 4 0 2 1 0 0 .275
HOrtiz c 2 0 1 0 0 0 .381
c-CBeltran ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .245
Febles 2b 1 0 0 1 0 0 .267

Totals 31 3 8 3 1 4

---------------------------------
New York 000 000 007-7 7 0
Kansas City 000 000 012-3 8 1
---------------------------------

a-safe on second on error for Bellinger in the 9th. b-singled for
Sanchez in the 9th. c-grounded out for Ortiz in the 9th.

1-ran for O'Neill in the 8th. 2-ran for Canseco in the 9th.

E-Wilson (1). LOB-New York 9, Kansas City 5. 2B-Jeter (30).
HR-Justice (36) off Mullen. RBIs-JVizcaino (9), Jeter (64),
RThompson 2 (8), Justice 2 (104), Quinn (68), McCarty (48),
Febles (26). S-HOrtiz, Febles. SF-Febles. GIDP-Justice, Posada,
Dye.

Runners left in scoring position-New York 4 (JVizcaino, Jeter,
Justice, Posada); Kansas City 3 (Damo, RSanchez, CBeltran).

DP-New York 1 (Jeter, JVizcaino and TMartinez); Kansas City 2
(McCarty, RSanchez, McCarty and RSanchez), (Febles, RSanchez and
McCarty).

NEW YORK
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Neagle W, 6-4 8 4 1 1 0 4 94 4.60
Grimsley 1 1 1 1 0 10 4.60
Dingman 2/3 3 1 1 0 0 10 4.26
MRivera S, 33 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 6 2.86

KANSAS CITY
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Reichert 8 2 0 0 9 5 110 3.94
Bottalico L, 7-5 1 2 2 1 0 9 4.76
Wilson 3 4 3 0 0 14 3.91
Mullen 1 1 1 1 0 1 17 2.08

Grimsley pitched to 2 batters in the 9th, Bottalico pitched to 2
batters in the 9th, Wilson pitched to 4 batters in the 9th.

Inherited runners-scored-Dingman 2-1, MRivera 2-0, Wilson 2-2,
Mullen 1-1.

Umpires-Home, Shulock; First, Fichter; Second, Roe; Third,
Lamplugh.

T-2:51. A-20,933 (40,625).

*** For the Kansas City/New York scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569569157-a82





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