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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Look out, Cleveland. The Chicago White Sox's
high-powered offense is back in gear.
Frank Thomas hit his AL-leading 41st home run, and the Chicago
White Sox spoiled Scott Sheldon's adventure at all nine positions
with a 13-1 romp over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.
|  | | Frank Thomas equaled his career-high for homers from 1993 with his 41st in the first inning. Thomas was AL MVP that year. |
Charles Johnson, Greg Norton and Magglio Ordonez also homered
for the AL Central-leading White Sox. Chicago scored seven runs in
the first inning, sending Rick Helling (14-11) to the shortest
start of his career.
"We had to get going early," said Thomas, who tied his career
high in homers. "We'd love to win the division, but Cleveland's
not backing down. It should be an interesting weekend this
weekend."
The only bright spot for the Rangers -- or maybe it was comic
relief -- came from Sheldon, who became just the third player ever
to play all nine spots in one game. He joined Bert Campaneris
(Sept. 8, 1965) and Cesar Tovar (Sept. 22, 1968) as true utility
players.
Sheldon, who plays mostly shortstop and third base, entered the
game in the fourth inning at catcher. By the eighth, he was
pitching and he struck out the only batter he faced, Jeff Liefer.
"I had a blast," said Sheldon, who played eight positions in a
spring training game. "It went by so fast, but there are so many
memories I'll take from this."
The White Sox aren't worried as much about memories as they are
about victories in these last few weeks. With their division lead
down to 6½ games, the White Sox head to Cleveland this weekend for
a series with the second-place Indians.
While the Indians were beating up on Tampa Bay as a warmup, the
White Sox dropped their first two to the Rangers. Even worse, their
offense seemed to be sputtering as they managed just five runs in
the first two games.
But the White Sox broke out of their slump in a big way
Wednesday. While his teammates were knocking in runs, Kip Wells
(5-7) kept the Rangers in check with one of his best games ever.
Making his first start since being recalled from Triple-A
Charlotte, Wells gave up one unearned run and four hits in seven
innings. He struck out four and walked only one.
Mike Lamb drove in Texas' run with a grounder in the third.
"We had a lot of runs tonight," Wells said. "My job was to
throw strikes and get innings in. I feel I did my job for the most
part."
And his teammates took care of the rest. After Helling walked
Jose Valentin in the first inning, Thomas homered to left. He also
hit 41 homers in 1993, the year he won his first MVP award.
The smoke from the fireworks hadn't even cleared when Ordonez
homered, giving the White Sox a 3-0 lead.
Chicago then loaded the bases with a single by Carlos Lee and
walks to Paul Konerko and Norton, and Chris Singleton hit a two-run
single.
After Johnson lined out, Ray Durham hit a two-run single to
center, giving the White Sox a 7-0 run and chasing Helling.
Helling gave up a whopping seven runs -- two of them homers -- in
just two-thirds of an inning. He gave up five hits, walked three and threw
41 pitches.
"Am I healthy? As far as I know. Maybe not mentally right
now," Helling said. "I don't make any excuses. I'm just not
getting the job done right now."
Brian Sikorski relieved Helling and got the last out, but he
gave up five more runs. Norton, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on
Tuesday, hit a three-run homer in the second and Johnson hit a
two-run shot in the fifth inning.
Game notes
Helling's outing was his shortest start since May 11, 1994,
when he lasted just one inning. ... The White Sox have had
back-to-back homers 15 times this season, with Thomas and Ordonez
accounting for six of them. ... Valentin was the only White Sox
starter without a hit.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 4
Baltimore 1
Oakland 6
Boston 4
Cleveland 6
Tampa Bay 2
Anaheim 1
Detroit 0
Toronto 7
Seattle 3
Chi. White Sox 13
Texas 1
Kansas City 3
NY Yankees 2
Cincinnati 11
NY Mets 8
Chicago Cubs 8
Colorado 5
Atlanta 7
Arizona 1
Houston 13
Florida 5
Montreal 7
St. Louis 2
Pittsburgh 8
Los Angeles 3
San Diego 7
Milwaukee 6
San Francisco 5
Philadelphia 4
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