| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Roberto Alomar swears he's been hitting line
drives all season. It's just that in September, no one's been
catching them.
Alomar went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI and Dave
Burba was his usual self Saturday, leading the Cleveland Indians to
a 9-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
|  | | For the 27th time in 28 starts this season, Indians pitcher Dave Burba lasted at least five innings. |
After battling nagging injuries most of the season, Alomar is
healthy and it shows. He's batting .417 this month, and in his last
18 games he's hitting .381 with four homers and 17 RBI.
"All I can do is hit it and hope it's not at somebody," said
Alomar, who has raised his average to .290. "That's what's
happening right now."
Cleveland snapped a four-game losing streak at home against
first-place Chicago, which still leads the AL Central by 7½ games.
But while the Indians may be too late to catch the White Sox, they
opened a three-game lead over Boston in the AL wild card race.
The Indians also got some bad news. Left fielder Wil Cordero
fractured his right pinky when he was hit with a pitch from Kevin
Beirne in the third, and could be out for the season.
"That's a big loss," Alomar said. "He's been getting a lot of
big hits for us."
Burba (14-6), who began having trouble breathing while warming
up before the game in the humid conditions, allowed two runs and
six hits in 5 2/3 innings to win for the fourth time in five
starts. The right-hander wasn't overpowering, but he kept the White
Sox off balance and pitched at least five innings for the 27th time
in 28 starts.
"I couldn't catch my breath," Burba said, "and I started
cramping up in the fourth inning. But the bottom line is that I
battled through it and gave us a chance to win."
Cleveland's bullpen held the White Sox to one hit over the final
3 1/3 innings.
Russell Branyan added a two-run homer and David Segui went
3-for-4 with two RBI for the Indians, who roughed up Chicago
rookie starter Jon Garland (3-6).
"I got behind guys and I wasn't able to throw strikes,"
Garland said. "I don't know if it was my mechanics or what it was.
The last couple of outings been high with my fastball can't get it
in the zone. You leave it over the plate and it just makes them
better hitters."
Frank Thomas drove in two runs for the White Sox, who made two
errors and blew some scoring chances.
But more troubling for Chicago could be the status of starter
James Baldwin (shoulder) and reliever Bill Simas (elbow), who were
both sent back to Chicago and received cortisone shots.
Burba, who seems to have at least one bad inning every start,
got out of a jam in the fourth by striking out Greg Norton with two
runners on.
However, the White Sox loaded the bases in the fifth and may
have gotten closer than 5-2 except that Jose Valentin swung at
Burba's first pitch and grounded into a double play before Thomas
hit an RBI double.
Alomar, who has benefited from Manny Ramirez's return to the
lineup, gave the Indians some breathing room in the sixth with his
two-out double. Branyan, who replaced Cordero in left, homered in
the seventh off rookie Matt Ginter.
Alomar couldn't remember his last three-double game, which came
for the San Diego Padres 10 years ago.
"Maybe Little League?" he asked before being told. "Wow, that
was a long time ago."
After failing to get a clutch hit in Friday's 5-4 loss, the
Indians got a pair of two-out RBI hits in the first to take a 3-0
lead off Garland, who walked two and made a throwing error in the
inning.
Consecutive doubles by Alomar and Ramirez to open the third made
it 4-0, and Segui rocketed a single off the wall in right to score
Ramirez before getting caught in a rundown.
The 20-year-old Garland, who may be counted on heavily in the
postseason, had his second straight poor start since returning from
the DL.
Game notes
Baldwin and Cal Eldred, who had elbow surgery on Thursday,
are both scheduled to throw on the side this week. ... Alomar has
27 career four-hit games. ... Thomas has 134 RBI matching his
career high set in '96. ... Cordero played in just 59 games last
year after breaking his left wrist. ... The White Sox have made 117
errors this season. Cleveland has 67. ... Ramirez's 776th career
RBI tied him with Hall of Famer Larry Doby for seventh place on the
club list. ... C.C. Sabathia, the Indians' top pitching prospect,
struck out five in five innings in his first start for the U.S.
Olympic baseball in a 5-3 win over Australia in a pre-Olympic
exhibition game.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
White Sox hold breath as Baldwin leaves for arm exam
RECAPS
NY Yankees 5
Boston 3
Cleveland 9
Chi. White Sox 3
Oakland 10
Tampa Bay 0
Toronto 6
Detroit 5
Baltimore 10
Anaheim 3
Texas 6
Kansas City 5
Seattle 7
Minnesota 2
Colorado 7
Los Angeles 6
Houston 14
Chicago Cubs 4
San Diego 7
San Francisco 3
Arizona 4
Florida 1
Cincinnati 6
Pittsburgh 4
Montreal 7
Atlanta 5
Philadelphia 6
NY Mets 3
St. Louis 7
Milwaukee 6
|
