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  Saturday, May 27 7:05pm ET
Valentin misses second cycle by single
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CHICAGO (AP) -- One month to the day since he hit for the cycle, Jose Valentin was a single shy of becoming the only AL player to do it twice in one season.

Valentin hit a two-run homer, a three-run triple and an RBI double, driving in a career-high six runs to power the Chicago White Sox to a 14-3 victory Saturday night over the Cleveland Indians.

Jose Valentin
Jose Valentin clears the bases with a triple in the second inning. Valentin missed hitting for the cycle by a single.
The win helped the White Sox open a 2½ game lead over the Indians in the AL Central.

"I don't think we're sending any message," White Sox pitcher Jim Parque said. "They could bounce back and beat us tomorrow like we beat them today."

Valentin never expected to be so close to matching the feat he accomplished April 27 against Baltimore when he became the fifth White Sox player to hit for the cycle.

"I didn't have any plans to do this today. It just happened," Valentin said.

The crowd of 30,250, second largest this season, gave Valentin a standing ovation before his fourth at-bat in the fifth when he was three-quarters of the way into the cycle. They booed when he drew a walk off Cleveland's Mark Watson. The crowd also cheered Valentin when he led off the seventh, but he grounded out to third.

He was on deck in the eighth when Ray Durham hit into an inning-ending double play.

"He's been a tremendous addition to the club," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said of Valentin. "I know they talk about other premier shortstops in the league but he's making a name for himself."

Valentin now has 24 extra-base hits, surpassing last season's combined total of 21 by all White Sox shortstops.

Parque (4-2) gave up two runs on six hits and two walks over 7 1/3 innings for his first win since April 27. The left-hander, who was 0-1 in his last five starts, departed after allowing Roberto Alomar's two-run homer, his seventh, with one out in the Indians' eighth.

Jaret Wright (3-3), activated from the disabled list before the game, took the loss. Wright had been sidelined since his last start May 11 with a strained muscle in his right shoulder. He gave up seven runs on six hits and one walk over 1 1/3 innings.

"I think my location was (the problem)," Wright said. "You've got to throw the ball where you want to throw it whether you take two weeks or two months off."

"Jaret's OK. He had good velocity," said Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel, who held a pregame meeting to try and spark the ballclub which has won once in its last five games. "It looked like he couldn't get his rhythm and couldn't get in sync."

Manny Ramirez went 3-for-3 for the Indians, who will try to salvage a game in the series Sunday.

"It's kind of like an uphill battle all the time," Charlie Manuel said of his team. "It was kind of an ugly game, wasn't it? We just got the heck beat out of us."

"It's good for us to be in a situation where they've got to catch us instead of us catching them," Parque said.

Chicago's Carlos Lee drove in three runs with a two-run homer, his ninth, in the seventh and a run-scoring ground out. Frank Thomas hit a pair of RBI doubles and Magglio Ordonez drove in two runs with two singles.

Durham singled to lead off the White Sox first and Valentin followed with his seventh home run.

With the bases loaded in the Chicago second, Valentin tripled down the right field line to make it 5-0. Thomas doubled to score Valentin and chase Wright. One out later, Chris Singleton singled off Sean DePaula to make it 7-0.

With two out in the Chicago third and a runner at second, Valentin doubled to go ahead 8-0. Thomas walked and Ordonez singled to score Valentin.

Thomas hit an RBI double, Ordonez hit an RBI single and Thomas scored when Lee hit into a fielder's choice in the fifth to open a 12-0 lead.

Game notes
Valentin hit for the cycle against Baltimore April 27, which was also when he matched his career RBI high of five. The other time he drove in five runs was April 3, 1998, at Florida while with Milwaukee. The only player to ever hit for the cycle twice in one season was Brooklyn's Babe Herman in 1931. ... Brothers Bryan and Grady Little, coaches for the White Sox and Indians, respectively, exchanged lineup cards at home plate before Saturday's game. ... Cleveland has homered in 18 straight games to tie a club record.

 


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