Thomas Puts Big Hurt On A’S
Frank Thomas got four more hits against Oakland, and the Chicago White Sox won 10-4 Sunday in a game marked by Albert Belle throwing an elbow at the face of Athletics catcher George Williams.
The White Sox completed a three-game sweep, and won their fourth in a row overall. They are 7-0 against the A’s this year.
Thomas went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, a walk and three runs scored. He has reached base via hit or walk in 12 straight plate appearances, and is batting .696 (16-for-23) with three homers and 11 RBIs against Oakland.
In the sixth, Belle was running home on Norberto Martin’s single when he threw a glancing right elbow at Williams’ face. Williams was standing near the plate waiting for the relay, which got past him after Belle crossed.
Williams glared at Belle as the White Sox star walked away. In his next at-bat, Belle was hit by a pitch in the left leg from Aaron Small.
Umpires warned both benches, and there were no further incidents.
Angels 5, Brewers 4
Anaheim, Calif.
Jim Edmonds hit two home runs and Anaheim won its seventh straight game.
Milwaukee lost its sixth in a row. The Angels completed their first three-game sweep since last June against Chicago.
Edmonds connected on a two-run shot in the first inning and added a solo drive in the sixth. That gave him nine home runs this season and five multi-homer games in his career.
Rangers 4, Yankees 2
Arlington, Texas
John Wetteland earned a save in his first appearance against his old teammates, striking out Cecil Fielder with two runners on base to finish Texas’ victory.
Wetteland, the MVP of the World Series for the Yankees last season, relieved to start the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Tim Raines. Derek Jeter flied out and Bernie Williams struck out, but Tino Martinez walked on four pitches.
Tigers 6, Royals 5
Kansas City, Mo.
Tony Clark had four hits and Travis Fryman added three for Detroit.
The Tigers trailed 4-3 entering the seventh inning when they bunched four hits to score two runs. Fryman and Bob Hamelin had RBI singles.
Kansas City right-hander Tim Belcher (5-4), who came into the game with the top ERA in the American League at 1.72, gave up a career-high 13 hits in 6-1/3 innings. He tied a seasonhigh in strikeouts with six, but surrendered six runs to raise his ERA to 2.35.
Twins 7, Red Sox 5
Minneapolis
Scott Stahoviak homered and doubled, and Minnesota got a pair of gift hits on balls lost against the Metrodome roof during a five-run first inning.
Minnesota won for the first time in seven Sunday games this season. The Twins won two of three from Boston this weekend for their first series victory since April 18-20 at Seattle.
The Red Sox lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Indians 8, Blue Jays 6
Toronto
Matt Williams hit two of Cleveland’s four home runs.
Sandy Alomar and Jim Thome also connected for Cleveland, which leads the majors with 71 home runs. The Indians won for the third time in eight games.
It was the 23rd multi-homer game of Williams’ career, including a three-homer performance this season against Milwaukee.
Angles nab Phillips
The Anaheim Angels reacquired outfielder Tony Phillips from the Chicago White Sox in a four-player trade.
Phillips, a spark of the 1995 Angels when he scored 119 runs and hit 27 home runs as their leadoff hitter but allowed to get away as a free agent, and catcher Chad Kreuter moved to Anaheim for left-handed reliever Chuck McElroy and catcher Jorge Fabregas.
Clearing the bases
In an amazing at-bat, Royals’ Bip Roberts spent 14 minutes at the plate in the first inning, lasting for 18 pitches before grounding out on a 2-2 pitch. He fouled off 14, 13 with two strikes, and watched while Detroit pitcher Felipe Lira made nine pickoff throws to first base.
Julio Franco extended his hitting streak to 17 games. He tied Edgar Martinez and Mark Grudzielanek for the longest streak in the majors this season… . Albert Belle extended his hitting streak to 15 games… . Angels’ Garret Anderson’s seventh-inning single extended his hitting streak to 13 games…. Yankee starters walked none in 25 innings in the four-game series… .