CHICAGO (AP) -- At least the Cleveland Indians won't be swept in back-to-back series by the Chicago White Sox.

	Kenny Lofton crashes into White Sox catcher Brook Fordyce, scoring the second of four Indians runs in the sixth.

The victory pulled the Indians within 7½ games of the White Sox in the AL Central and was Cleveland's second win in nine games.

"There's a lot of time left (in the season)," Indians second baseman Roberto Alomar said. "It's not even the halfway mark."

Indians manager Charlie Manuel has another concern besides making up the gap in the standings. Outfielder David Justice had to leave the game after five innings because of a strained abdominal muscle. His status was day-to-day.

With Manny Ramirez expected to be sidelined at least another week with a hamstring injury, the Indians' lineup is missing a cleanup hitter.

"We'll go home tonight and think about it," Manuel said. "I'll write down lineups like I always do and watch ESPN on TV and wish I had Mark McGwire."

Jim Brower (2-1), who lasted just 1 1/3 innings against the White Sox in his last start June 14, gave up one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings.

"It was personal to me," Brower said. "I was excited because that last game was so bad. It was embarrassing as a player.

"I've had a lot of bad outings," he said. "I know how to bounce back. This (win) is priceless to me."

He received a solid defensive effort, especially Alomar and outfielder Jolbert Cabrera.

"I didn't know who to shake hands with because there were so many great plays," Brower said. "It was a team effort."

"(Good defense) makes a difference," Alomar said. "They had men on second and third. We don't make those plays, who knows what happens?"

Mike Sirotka (6-6) allowed four runs and nine hits in eight innings, striking out six.

But Sirotka committed a critical throwing error in the sixth that led to the four runs. Second baseman Ray Durham also made a throwing error that inning, the 66th miscue by the White Sox (45-25), who have the best record in the majors and the worst fielding percentage in the AL.

Alomar singled to lead off the sixth and advanced on Kenny Lofton's sacrifice. Lofton was safe on Sirotka's throwing error, and both he and Alomar scored on Fryman's double to make it 2-1.

"I turned and set and the ball sailed on me," Sirotka said. "There were a few throws I wish I had back."

One out later, Jim Thome singled to score Fryman, his third hit of the game. Alex Ramirez and Sandy Alomar each singled, scoring Thome to make it 4-1. Durham had thrown home but the ball hit Alomar's bat in front of home plate and bounced past catcher Brook Fordyce for an error.

Cabrera then grounded out to second and Ramirez was caught in a rundown between third and home for an inning-ending double play.

Cabrera made two outstanding plays, catching Durham's fly ball in center on the run to end the Chicago third and making a diving catch of Paul Konerko's fly ball to close the sixth.

"When the game gets to where everything you hit, they catch, it's going to take somewhat of a miracle to pull the game out," Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. "If that's the type of effort it's going to take to beat us, then that's OK."

Steve Karsay pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 18 opportunities.

Konerko hit an RBI single with two outs in the fourth to put Chicago up 1-0.

Game notes
Although Tuesday's crowd of 20,005 was considerably smaller than Monday's sellout of 43,062, the fans still gave the White Sox players a standing ovation before they took the field as they did Monday. ... Prior to going 3-for-4 against Sirotka, Thome was just 9-for-54 (.167) against left-handers. ... Chicago's Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 12 games. ... The loss was only the second in the last 16 games for the White Sox.