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Friday, Jul. 21 7:05pm ET
Despite mistakes, White Sox win in Boston | |||||
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GAME LOG
BOSTON (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox don't need help scoring runs. The Boston Red Sox gave it to them anyway. Magglio Ordonez singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning after first baseman Brian Daubach dropped his wind-blown foul popup for an error as Chicago overcame its own miscues for an 8-5 win Friday night. "I was lucky to get another chance. You don't see that very often," Ordonez said. "You've got to take advantage." He did that with his third hit of the game, an RBI single that gave baseball's highest scoring team a 6-5 lead in the seventh. "It was a tough play," Daubach said of his first error of the year. "The wind was blowing as hard as I've seen it in the last two years. Every popup in the infield was tricky. Even if I made the play, they still might have scored." If he had caught the ball, the White Sox would have had runners at first and third with two outs. Instead, Ordonez's single to center off Hipolito Pichardo (4-2) scored Tony Graffanino, who walked and took third on Frank Thomas' single. It was Ordonez's 51st RBI in his last 46 games for the team with baseball's best record and the AL's second best batting average -- and second worst fielding average. Chicago shortstop Jose Valentin made two errors in the sixth that allowed Boston to tie the game at 5 but added a homer and three RBIs. "He's kind of been in a little rut defensively," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said, "but offensively, he's been impressive all year." Chicago moved 11 1/2 games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central, the biggest division lead in baseball. Boston, third in the AL East, dropped two games behind the New York Yankees despite a shaky outing by Chicago ace James Baldwin. "Baldwin wasn't as sharp as we've seen him," Boston's Scott Hatteberg said. "He got hurt because he fell behind in the count." Baldwin, who is 12-4 but 2-3 in his last six starts, "can't go out and dominate every time like he did. The plate's only so big and they're going to figure him out," said Paul Konerko, whose hitting streak ended at 13 games. Baldwin gave up two homers, bringing his total to 26. Only Jeff Suppan of Kansas City, with 27, has thrown more. Troy O'Leary's three-run shot gave Boston a 3-1 lead after one inning and Ed Sprague's solo homer made it 4-2 in the fourth. Bill Simas (2-2) got the win after relieving Baldwin in the sixth and getting the last two outs. It wasn't the smoothest inning for Valentin. O'Leary singled and took second on Valentin's throwing error on Jason Varitek's grounder. Hatteberg walked, loading the bases with one out. Simas came in and got Darren Lewis to hit a routine grounder to Valentin for a potential inning-ending double play. Instead, Valentin misplayed the ball, allowing O'Leary to score the tying run. Jose Offerman then hit another grounder to Valentin, and this time he started the double play. "We feel very good with him at shortstop," Manuel said. "They hit it to him again and he made the play." Chicago added two runs in the eighth on Valentin's sacrifice fly and Thomas' RBI single. Bob Howry pitched two innings for his fifth save. Chicago took a 1-0 lead when Valentin led off the game with his 15th homer of the season. Boston went ahead 3-1 in the bottom half on O'Leary's homer after a walk to Offerman and a single by Nomar Garciaparra. The White Sox cut that to 3-2 in the second when Carlos Lee walked, took third on Herbert Perry's double and scored on Valentin's groundout. Sprague's homer was his first since being acquired from San Diego on June 30. Brook Fordyce got that back when he hit Tim Wakefield's first pitch in the fifth for his fifth homer. The White Sox took a 5-4 lead with two runs in the sixth. Ordonez doubled, stole third and scored on Konerko's sacrifice fly. The other run scored on a single by Chris Singleton, a walk to Lee and an RBI single by Fordyce. Game notesRight fielder Trot Nixon went 2-for-5 with a single and a grand slam in a rehabilitation appearance for Boston's rookie team in Fort Myers, Fla., the Gulf Coast Red Sox. ... Fordyce was shaken up but stayed in the game after a second-inning collision at the plate with Sprague, who was out trying to score standing up on Hatteberg's double. ... Wakefield had won his previous four starts. ... Garciaparra went 1-for-4, lowering his average from .396 to .394. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Chi. White Sox Clubhouse Boston Clubhouse RECAPS Chi. White Sox 8 Boston 5
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