| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
SEATTLE (AP) -- For the second time in the series, the Chicago
White Sox's pitching was sensational. And this time Ray Durham kept
his temper in check.
Durham's tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning combined with
Chicago's four-hit pitching for the second time in three days gave
the White Sox a 2-1 victory over the struggling Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
|  | | Paul Konerko gave the White Sox an early lead when he led off the second with his 15th homer of the season. |
The Mariners lost for the 12th time in 14 games, including a 4-1
defeat Friday night when they had four hits. But they stayed 2½
games ahead of Oakland because the Athletics lost to the New York
Yankees 7-5 Sunday.
Durham, who was ejected in the ninth inning Saturday for arguing
after being called out on strikes in an 11-5 loss, hit his 15th
home run into the right-field stands off Freddy Garcia (4-4) with
one out in the eighth.
"It's night and day," Durham said with a smile when asked to
contrast his flareup Saturday and his winning homer Sunday. "But
yesterday was finished as soon as I left the ballpark. When
something like that happens, you have to move on."
Durham hit his first home run since Aug. 9.
"I don't try to hit home runs and I've been in a rut at the
plate so I've been trying to hit the ball up the middle," he said.
"This one felt good, but it felt good for the team."
Sean Lowe came out of the bullpen for Chicago and started in
place of James Baldwin, whose start was moved back to Tuesday night
because of a tired arm. Lowe gave up one run, four hits and two
walks in five innings.
He made his second start in five days. Manager Jerry Manuel said
more starts might be assigned to Lowe.
"He really pitched well," Manuel said.
Said Lowe: "If they want me to start again, fine. If they want
me to go back to the bullpen, I'll do that, too. It doesn't matter
to me right now. I just want to win."
Rookie Lorenzo Barcelo (2-1) pitched three perfect innings of
relief for the win. Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 24th
save in 29 opportunities. It was his second save in the series and
his fourth save this season against Seattle.
"We held Lorenzo back last night just for today," Manuel said.
"Veteran hitters don't have a book on him yet and that makes it
tough for them to figure him out right now."
Barcelo has walked three in 24 1/3 innings since being called up
from Triple-A Charlotte July 18. His ERA in 11 relief appearances
for the White Sox is 1.69.
"You have to concentrate," Barcelo said. "I hate walks. When
you walk batters, it causes you too much trouble."
The White Sox improved to 23-11 in one run games, the best
record in the majors. The Mariners dropped to a major league-worst
9-21 in one-run contests.
Despite the loss, Seattle manager Lou Piniella was in a positive
mood because his team pitched well in the series, too.
"We faced pretty good pitching," Piniella said. "What you
don't want the White Sox to do is get ahead of you and have to face
a guy like Foulke. There's a reason the White Sox have won more
games (77) than anybody in the league. It's usually pretty good
pitching at the end of a ballgame."
The White Sox took a 1-0 lead when Paul Konerko led off the
second with his 15th homer of the season.
The Mariners tied the score in the fifth. Mike Cameron singled,
stole second and came home on Mark McLemore's single.
In the fifth, Chicago loaded the bases on Herbert Perry's
single, Chris Singleton's fielder's choice and walks to Jeff Abbott
and Mark Johnson. But Garcia got Durham to ground out to end the
inning.
In the sixth, Tony Graffanino was thrown out at the plate by
shortstop Alex Rodriguez when he attempted to score from second on
third baseman Carlos Guillen's error on Carlos Lee's ground ball.
Rodriguez doubled to lead off the fourth and was at third with
one out, but Lowe got John Olerud on a line drive and Guillen to
ground out.
Garcia allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings.
Game notes
White Sox SS Jose Valentin, who didn't start for the second
straight game because of an inflammation in his pelvic area,
grounded out in the eighth as a pinch-hitter and had his
career-high 13-game hitting streak broken. He remained in the game
at shortstop after he pinch hit. ... Lowe made his seventh career
start. ... DH Frank Thomas of the White Sox was 1-for-10 with three
walks in the series. In six games at Safeco this season, he was
1-for-20. Said Thomas: "It's just one of those things. It's nice
to be getting out of here." ... Chicago won the season series from
Seattle 7-5. It's the first season series the White Sox have won
from the Mariners since 1994, when they won nine out of 10. ...
Guillen committed his team-leading 15th error of the season in his
64th game. ... The crowd of 45,525 was the second largest in 107
games at Safeco Field. The largest Safeco crowd was 45,552 on
opening day this season. ... Garcia's eight innings pitched was his
longest outing of the season. His previous longest start was seven
innings.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Baltimore 3
Tampa Bay 2
Kansas City 11
Boston 7
Minnesota 7
Detroit 6
NY Yankees 7
Oakland 5
Chi. White Sox 2
Seattle 1
Anaheim 10
Cleveland 9
Toronto 6
Texas 4
St. Louis 7
Atlanta 2
NY Mets 2
Arizona 1
Houston 7
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 2
San Francisco 1
Colorado 9
Pittsburgh 2
San Diego 2
Milwaukee 1
Los Angeles 7
Chicago Cubs 6
Florida 7
Cincinnati 6
|
