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Monday, Aug. 14 7:35pm ET
White Sox lackluster in loss to Orioles | |||||
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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) -- He leads all Baltimore Orioles pitchers with eight victories, is the only starter with a winning record and is unbeaten in six starts since July 8. Jose Mercedes, who started the season in the minor leagues, is pitching better than Mike Mussina and everyone else in the Orioles' starting rotation. Mercedes allowed one run in eight innings to win his fifth consecutive decision, and Jerry Hairston and Luis Matos homered as the Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox 8-2 Monday night. Mercedes (8-4) allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked three against the team that leads the majors in runs. It was the fifth time in six starts that the right-hander has pitched at least seven innings, and Baltimore has won all six of those games. "When you're feeling good, everything goes good," Mercedes said. "Everything was working -- my changeup, fastball and slider. I guess all the hard work has paid off." Hairston's leadoff homer sparked a four-run first inning against Mike Sirotka (10-10), and Matos' first major league home run, a three-run shot, made it 7-0 in the third. Magglio Ordonez had three hits and an RBI for the White Sox, who own the best record in the AL (70-48), but are only 15-15 since the All-Star break. After the game, manager Jerry Manuel held a closed-door meeting. The White Sox made two errors, were sloppy in the field and appeared sluggish in losing for the sixth time in 11 games. "We talked about the lack of intensity that I think we need to get back. We seem somewhat lacking," he said. "I'd just like to see it be somewhat comparable to where we are." Sirotka gave up four earned runs, eight hits and five walks in 3 2/3 innings. He's yielded 21 homers this year compared to 24 all last season. But Chicago would have been hard-pressed to win even if Sirotka was much sharper. "The Orioles jumped on him right away, but we still need to hit the ball and play good defense behind him," Manuel said. Mercedes' gem was a stark contrast from his last appearance against the White Sox on April 27 when he allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings. "There was definitely something different from the last time we saw him," said Paul Konerko, who went 0-for-4. "He was throwing harder and he was more over the top. He was throwing real hard and that can make those off-speed pitches even better. He was more deceiving." The Orioles batted around in the first inning, using four hits and two walks to go up 4-0. Hairston homered on a 2-1 pitch before Albert Belle, Brook Fordyce and Ryan Minor hit run-scoring singles. A walk and an error by third baseman Herbert Perry preceded Matos' drive to left-center in the third. The White Sox finally scored in the sixth when Jose Valentin led off with a double and scored on a single by Ordonez. A triple by Chris Richard and a sacrifice fly by Fordyce made it 8-1 in the bottom half. Fordyce was playing his first game against his former team since the July 29 trade that sent Charles Johnson and Harold Baines to Chicago. Johnson went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run-scoring single in the ninth; Baines did not play. Game notesMinor snapped an 0-for-9 skid with his first-inning single. ... Valentin committed his team-high 30th error at shortstop. ... The Orioles stranded 12 runners, 10 through the fifth inning. ... Baltimore has 10 triples this month compared to seven through July. ... Ordonez is 14-for-26 in his last six games and has seven RBI in his last four games. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Chi. White Sox Clubhouse Baltimore Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 7 Tampa Bay 3
Baltimore 8
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