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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox are learning that life
atop the standings can make your stomach hurt and your head ache -- even in June.
|  | | Chicago's Ray Durham watches his game-winning solo home run in the 10th inning off Cleveland Indians pitcher Justin Speier. |
"These ninth innings are killing me," Chicago second baseman
Ray Durham said while rubbing his head. "They're giving me gray
hairs and I don't have any hair."
Durham homered in the top of the 10th and Chicago survived a
scary bottom half Tuesday night, holding on for a 4-3 win over the
Cleveland Indians to open a four-game lead in the AL Central.
By winning the first two games of the key series and 11 of 13
overall, the White Sox have their largest lead in the division
since May 28, 1994, when they also led by four.
"We have a sense of how to win," White Sox manager Jerry
Manuel said. "Now the game itself is more important than
individual numbers. The focus is on winning."
And the focus is on the White Sox, who have won four of the
first five meetings this season with Cleveland. Chicago also has
the majors' best road record at 22-14, winning 13 of its last 17
away games.
With one out in the 10th, Durham hit a 1-0 pitch from Justin
Speier (0-1) 419 feet to dead center for his 11th homer and third
in three games. On Sunday, Speier gave up a three-run homer to Ken
Griffey Jr. as the Reds rallied to beat the Indians.
"I was looking for a pitch I could drive and I got one," said
Durham, batting .437 in his last nine games. "Then I was hoping I
wouldn't miss it."
Bill Simas (1-1) got two outs for the win and Bob Howry got
three outs for his second save.
An error by Durham helped the Indians, who stranded 10 runners,
put the tying run at second in the 10th. But Howry got pinch-hitter
Russell Branyan to hit into a game-ending double play.
Branyan homered off Howry in Monday's opener.
It was the second straight night the Indians hit into a
game-ending double play with the potential winning run on.
Cleveland is 0-for-10 with runners at third and less than two outs
in three games.
"I don't know if we're trying too hard or pressing or what,"
Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "But we're having a tough
time knocking guys in. Sometimes we have guys at third with nobody
out, the infield playing back and we still can't get the run in. I
don't know what it is."
If not for the umpires ruling that Magglio Ordonez's drive to
left in the fourth was a double and not a homer as TV replays
showed, the White Sox wouldn't have had to sweat this one out.
"It shouldn't have been close," starter Jim Parque said. "But
the bottom line is that we won."
Cleveland can't seem to get the clutch hit lately, but with some
help from the White Sox, the Indians tied it 3-3 with two runs in
the eighth.
Roberto Alomar led off with a double and scored on David
Justice's single. Jerry Manuel decided to bring in Kelly Wunsch,
who got Travis Fryman to hit into a force.
Richie Sexson followed with a single, and one out later, Fryman
scored when catcher Brook Fordyce couldn't handle Wunsch's inside
pitch to Alex Ramirez.
Parque, who stayed ahead in the count and didn't hurt himself
with walks, allowed seven hits and three runs -- two earned -- before
leaving with a 3-2 lead and a runner on in the seventh.
Indians starter Bartolo Colon gave up three runs and seven hits
in eight innings. Averaging 12 strikeouts per nine innings, Colon
fanned just one.
After the Indians failed to score in the fourth despite having
runners at first and third with none out, the White Sox scored
three times in the top of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead.
No. 9 hitter Fordyce, batting .158 at the time, hit a sacrifice
fly, and Jose Valentin had an RBI double to make it 2-1. The
Indians chose to intentionally walk Frank Thomas, and Ordonez made
them pay with an RBI single.
Game notes
The White Sox set a franchise record of 17 straight games
with a homer. ... The White Sox have won six straight series for
the first time since 1994. ... Sox manager Jerry Manuel didn't want
any part of the Cubs' Sammy Sosa-to-the-Yankees trade rumors. "No
thanks," he said. "That's the other side of town." ... Thomas
recently opened his batting stance, and looks a lot like Atlanta's
Andres Galarraga at the plate. Since the change, Thomas is batting
.311 (19-for-61) with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 18 games. ... The
Indians agreed to terms with three of their first five picks in
last week's draft, including No. 1 selection (26th overall) Corey
Smith, a third baseman from Piscataway, N.J.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
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Toronto 3
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Chicago's Ray Durham is a big spark for the White Sox, according to ESPN's Peter Gammons.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's Dave Campbell looks at the starting pitching for the White Sox.
wav: 246 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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