| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- If Carlos Delgado has his way, he's got a few
more home runs to hit.
Delgado hit a grand slam to end a 17-game homerless streak,
reaching 40 homers for the second straight season as the Toronto
Blue Jays routed the Chicago White Sox 14-1 Sunday.
|  | | Carlos Delgado, center, hit his first homer since Aug. 28 and has 133 RBI, one shy of the Toronto record set by George Bell in 1987 and matched by Delgado in '99. |
"I hit 44 last year and I always try to top the previous
year," said Delgado, the first player in Blue Jays history to post
two 40-homer seasons. "It seems like the last couple of weeks, I
haven't felt great at the plate. It's nice to get to that round
number. Hopefully I can finish up strong."
Brad Fullmer hit a three-run homer, Jose Cruz Jr. hit a two-run
shot and Tony Batista had a three-run double as Toronto remained
three games behind Cleveland, which leads the AL wild-card race.
"We came in here and had a chance to win all three games,"
Delgado said. "We didn't fall too far behind. We have to continue
to play well and finish strong."
Delgado connected with two outs in the sixth against Jesus Pena
for his seventh career slam, his second this year.
Delgado has 133 RBI, one shy of the Toronto record set by
George Bell in 1987 and matched by Delgado last year. It was
Delgado's first homer since Aug. 28 at Anaheim.
"It was good to see Carlos come out of it," Toronto manager
Jim Fregosi said. "Hopefully, now that he's hit his 40th, he can
get hot ... hotter."
Chicago's lead in the AL Central was cut to 7½ games over the
Indians with two weeks remaining.
Lance Painter (2-0) pitched three innings of two-hit relief,
allowing Chicago's only run on McKay Christensen's RBI single in
the sixth.
White Sox manager Jerry Manuel did not start designated hitter
Frank Thomas, second baseman Ray Durham, left fielder Carlos Lee
and first baseman Paul Konerko, opting to give them days off.
Toronto starter Joey Hamilton left after three innings because
of a strained right shoulder. Hamilton, who went to the mound at
the start of the fourth before coming out, had shoulder surgery in
September 1999.
"Good thing we have an off day to regroup and get our bodies
together," said Fregosi, who may be without Chris Carpenter for
the rest of the season after he was hit in the face with a line
drive Saturday night.
Rookie Kip Wells (5-9), battling for a spot in Chicago's
postseason rotation, gave up six runs, nine hits and four walks in
five innings.
Wells will stay in the rotation and Manuel said he's still
trying to decide who to use in the playoffs.
"Everybody's a possibility," Manuel said. "The only difficult
thing is getting the opportunity to evaluate them properly."
Wells wasn't too bothered by his outing.
"For the most part, I think I made some strides from the last
start and did better challenging guys and going after them," Wells
said. "That was my goal -- to make them beat me. At times, I didn't
have the pitches when I wanted them and they took advantage of
that."
Fullmer's homer put Toronto ahead 3-0 in the first, and
Batista's double, which followed an intentional walk to Fullmer,
made it 6-0 in the fifth.
Cruz hit his 31st home run in the seventh off Matt Ginter, and
Dave Martinez added an RBI single.
Game notes
Delgado also hit a grand slam June 7 against Atlanta. ...
The Blue Jays have hit 103 home runs on the road, 13 short of the
club record set last year. ... Fullmer has 18 homers since the
All-Star break. His previous career high for a season was 13 with
Montreal two years ago. ... The White Sox lost their first series
at home since Aug. 8-10 vs. Seattle. ... The 14 runs allowed by the
White Sox were the most since April 9 against Oakland.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 5
Boston 4
Cleveland 15
NY Yankees 4
Oakland 0
Tampa Bay 0
Seattle 3
Baltimore 2
Toronto 14
Chi. White Sox 1
Minnesota 1
Anaheim 0
Texas 6
Kansas City 5
Cincinnati 8
Milwaukee 4
Montreal 5
NY Mets 0
Philadelphia 6
Florida 5
St. Louis 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Houston 5
Pittsburgh 3
San Francisco 5
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 12
Colorado 6
Atlanta 7
Arizona 1
|
