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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- On a night when every pitch felt like the
postseason, the Chicago White Sox seemed ready for October.
|  | | Sliding Ray Durham and the White Sox widened took a step closer to the AL Central title. |
Paul Konerko made a diving stop at first with the bases loaded
in the seventh inning and hit a two-run homer Friday night as
Chicago moved a game closer to wrapping up the AL Central with a
5-4 victory over the Indians.
"We've done it all year," Konerko said. "We keep getting
tested and we keep coming through."
In beating the Indians for the fourth straight time at Jacobs
Field, the White Sox increased their lead to 8½ games over
second-place Cleveland. Chicago is 29 games over .500 for the first
time since the end of the 1983 season.
"This was another big step for us," said Konerko, one of the
young White Sox who have never played in the postseason. "It was
like the playoffs, a packed house pulling against us, and we were
able to come out with another win. We're moving closer to a
division title. This couldn't be a better start toward doing it."
Rookie Mark Buehrle (4-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win, and Bob Howry got out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh with
Konerko's help as the White Sox improved to 8-3 against Cleveland
this year.
Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 34 chances.
While many of the White Sox dressed afterward, starter James
Baldwin sat in his chair rubbing his right shoulder. Baldwin was
chased in the fifth inning and said he still bothered by discomfort
in his shoulder.
"I don't know what it is," said Baldwin, who missed two starts
last month with a tired arm. "That's not an excuse for me to give
up runs, I would never do that. But I'm not 100 percent right now.
Hopefully, they'll find out what it going on."
Manny Ramirez had three RBI for the Indians, who remained two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card race.
Cleveland might as well forget about winning the division it has
dominated since 1995, because it doesn't look like the White Sox
are going away.
"They scored those five runs early and we just couldn't get the
big hit to get over the top," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said.
"We had chances, too."
Jose Valentin homered for Chicago, which has led the division
since April 19.
Trailing 5-4, the Indians loaded the bases with one out in the
seventh on three walks, including two by reliever Kelly Wunsch, who
threw eight straight balls and was lifted.
But Howry got Roberto Alomar to pop out before Konerko dived to his left to snag a line shot by Jim Thome that was headed to the
right-field corner.
"I know he's a pull hitter and I was expecting the ball,"
Konerko said. "It just happened so quick. I just made the play."
"He crushed that ball," Howry said of Thome's shot. "That probably clears the bases."
When David Segui flied to right, Howry was out of the inning.
Indians starter Steve Woodard (1-3) failed to get beyond the
fourth inning for the fourth time in his last five starts, allowing
five runs and seven hits in four innings.
Konerko took a sarcastic swipe at the Indians on Thursday by saying baseball should extend the season by 40 games to accommodate all their injuries.
"Guess what?" Konerko said. "Everybody has injuries."
It didn't take long for Konerko to take another swing at the Indians, hitting a two-run homer in the first off Woodard.
Chicago went up 3-1 in the third on Valentin's 22nd homer, and
Chicago added two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles from Chris
Singleton and Charles Johnson.
But Ramirez, who was on the disabled list the last time the
teams met, battled Baldwin for 12 pitches before hitting an RBI
single in the fourth. Thome's RBI single then scored Ramirez,
cutting Chicago's lead to 5-3.
The Indians closed to 5-4 and chased Baldwin in the fifth on
Ramirez's third RBI hit. But with the tying run at third, Buehrle
got Thome to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Ramirez's single in the first scored Kenny Lofton to give the
Indians a 1-0 lead.
Game notes
The White Sox are an major-league best 44-28 on the road,
and have a 17-5 mark against playoff contenders Cleveland, New
York, Oakland and Seattle. ... At this point last season, the White
Sox trailed the Indians by 23 games. ... Indians SS Omar Vizquel
made a running, over-the-shoulder catch to rob Herbert Perry of a
bloop single in the sixth. ... Justin Speier's throwing error in the fifth was the Indians first error in 82 innings. ... The
Indians claimed LHP Eric Dubose on waivers from the Oakland
Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. Dubose was a
first-round draft pick in '97.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 4
Boston 0
Chi. White Sox 5
Cleveland 4
Toronto 3
Detroit 0
Texas 6
Kansas City 5
Anaheim 2
Baltimore 1
Tampa Bay 4
Oakland 0
Minnesota 4
Seattle 2
Houston 13
Chicago Cubs 10
Cincinnati 0
Pittsburgh 0
Pittsburgh 3
Cincinnati 1
(2nd game)
Arizona 2
Florida 1
Philadelphia 2
NY Mets 0
Atlanta 3
Montreal 2
Milwaukee 6
St. Louis 5
Colorado 8
Los Angeles 5
San Diego 10
San Francisco 7
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Omar Vizquel stresses the importance of every game at this point in the season.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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