Jose Valentin hit three home runs in the first five innings and Paul Konerko had a grand slam and a career-high six RBIs as the Chicago White Sox routed the Kansas City Royals 15-4 Wednesday.
Chicago has won three straight games, pulling within two games of American League Central-leading Kansas City, the closest the White Sox have been to first place since April 8. Chicago set season highs for runs, hits (19) and homers (six).
PHOTO: AP
"It was one of those days where you see pitches to hit and you don't miss them," Valentin said. "I didn't try to hit three out, but it happened. It was a great game for me."
Valentin hit a solo homer in the second and three-run home run in the third, both swinging left-handed off Runelvys Hernandez (5-4). Valentin homered right-handed to lead off the fifth against Jeremy Affeldt, then walked twice and struck out.
"You add [Roberto] Alomar and [Carl] Everett to a team that's swinging the way we're swinging the bat and it makes for a tough lineup to go through," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "You have Magglio Ordonez as hot as he is and Paul Konerko heating up. Jose Valentin can be damaging as well."
Jon Garland (8-7) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.
Rangers 9, Red Sox 2
In Arlington, Texas, Laynce Nix, Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock homered, and Nix drove in four runs as Texas beat Boston.
Robert Ellis (1-1) gave up two runs and six hits in seven-plus innings for his first victory since June 16, 2001.
Rangers All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-5 after saying before the game that he was so frustrated by losing that he would consider a trade.
Ramiro Mendoza (3-5) gave up seven runs and seven hits over 4 1-3 innings.
Twins 5, Orioles 1
In Minneapolis, Brad Radke (7-9) won for just the second time in 13 starts, taking a four-hit shutout into the eighth as Minnesota beat Baltimore.
Radke wound up allowing one run and six hits in 7 1-3 innings, his fewest runs allowed since opening day.
Jacque Jones had three RBIs for the Twins, who moved with 5 1/2 games of first place.
Sidney Ponson (14-6), the subject of trade rumors, gave up five runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Devil Rays 5, Blue Jays 3
In Toronto, Jeff Liefer hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Cory Lidle (11-9) in the fourth inning after being recalled from the minors earlier in the day, to lead Tampa Bay past Toronto.
Victor Zambrano (8-5) improved to 7-3 since returning from the minors May 23, allowing three runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. Jesus Colome pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
Yankees 8, Angels 0
In Anaheim, California, Roger Clemens (10-7) pitched a five-hitter for his first complete game since the 2-0 loss to Boston's Pedro Martinez on May 28, 2000 as New York thrashed Anaheim.
Clemens had gone 104 regular-season starts without a complete game, the longest drought in Yankees history.
Clemens, who turns 41 Monday, pitched his 46th shutout, his first since June 29, 1999, against Detroit.
Jason Giambi went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and his 30th homer as the Yankees increased their AL East lead over Boston to 2 games.
John Lackey (7-10) allowed seven runs, six hits and four walks in 6 2-3 innings.
Mariners 13, Tigers 3
In Seattle, Randy Winn had his first two-homer game, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs as Seattle beat Detroit.
Winn hit his slam and John Olerud had a three-run homer in a nine-run first, the Mariners' biggest inning since they scored 10 runs at Chicago on May 2, 2002.
Jamie Moyer (14-5) won his fourth straight decision, allowing three runs and eight hits in six innings. Seattle opened a four-game lead over second-place Oakland in the AL West.
Detroit, 28-77 overall and 1-7 against Seattle, has allowed nine or more runs in an inning three times this season. Nate Cornejo (5-9) retired just two batters and allowed nine runs and seven hits, but six runs were unearned because of an error by third baseman Dmitri Young.
Indians 4, Athletics 2
In Oakland, California, C.C. Sabathia (9-6) gave up two runs and nine hits in seven innings as Cleveland defeated Oakland.
Milton Bradley and Victor Martinez drove in runs, and Danys Baez got three outs for his 23rd save. Ted Lilly (6-9) lost for the fourth time in five decisions, allowing three runs and six hits in seven innings.
Rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis gave up four hits in seven innings to lead the Florida Marlins over Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 Wednesday.
Florida won its sixth straight game and remained one game behind Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race. Arizona, which has lost a team-record nine straight road games, got its only run on Alex Cinton's first-inning homer off Willis (10-2).
"Dontrelle is unbelievable," Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre said. "He's a special kid. It's like he has been up here five or six years. Any time you can get that many people coming out to see you, you're something special."
Johnson (1-4), making just his third start after missing 2 1/2 months following arthroscopic knee surgery, allowed four hits in six innings but gave up two runs -- both unearned after a sixth-inning error by second baseman Junior Spivey.
"One mistake changed the outcome of the ballgame, and I take the blame for it," Spivey said. "That was a mistake that shouldn't happen."
Miguel Cabrera drove in two runs for Florida. Braden Looper completed the five-hitter by pitching the ninth for his 21st save.
Phillies 4, Dodgers 2
In Philadelphia, Ricky Ledee tripled off Paul Shuey (4-3) in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie, and Jim Thome drove two runs, as Philadelphia beat Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has just five runs in its last six games, going 3-3.
Turk Wendell (2-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings, and Jose Mesa got three outs for his 21st save. Kevin Brown's three-base throwing error led to two runs in the first inning.
Astros 7, Braves 3
In Atlanta, Adam Everett singled in two runs to cap a four-run first inning as the Astros thrashed Atlanta. After going 13-of-15 the previous three games, including nine straight hits coming in, Marcus Giles was hitless in four at-bats and walked.
Ron Villone (3-1) walked six in five innings but allowed just two runs -- one earned -- and three hits.
Horacio Ramirez (8-4) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. Atlanta stranded 12 runners.
Giants 6, Cubs 3
In Chicago, Edgardo Alfonzo hit his second career grand slam, and Jason Schmidt (11-4) and five relievers combined on a four-hitter as San Francisco beat Chicago for its 11th win in 13 games.
Kerry Wood (10-8), who allowed a season-high eight runs his previous time out, gave up four runs, three hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out nine.
Cardinals 11, Expos 1
In Montreal, rookie Dan Haren (2-2) allowed four hits in seven shutout innings and hit an RBI double that capped a seven-run first. Mike Matheny hit a three-run double in the inning. St. Louis is 5-0 against Montreal this season, outscoring the Expos 30-6.
Claudio Vargas (6-7) retired just one batter and allowed seven runs, three hits and three walks.
Reds 3, Rockies 2
In Cincinnati, Jason LaRue led off the ninth inning with a tying homer off Justin Speier, and Adam Dunn singled with the bases loaded in the 10th against Jose Jimenez (0-6)
Two hours before the game, the Reds further dismembered their roster, trading leading hitter Jose Guillen to Oakland for three minor leaguers. They sent closer Scott Williamson to Boston on Tuesday.
Chris Reitsma (8-3) pitched a perfect 10th.
Pirates 7, Padres 2
In Pittsburgh, Reggie Sanders homered twice and drove in five runs in what might have been his next-to-last game with Pittsburgh.
Sanders, who could be traded Thursday, hit a three-run homer in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth off Brian Lawrence (5-13), who has lost four straight decisions and six of seven. Sanders added a two-run homer in the sixth.
Kip Wells (5-4) allowed four runs -- two earned -- and four hits in six innings, and Brian Meadows finished the six-hitter for his first save in 133 major league games.
Mets 2, Brewers 0
In New York, Al Leiter (10-5) allowed five hits in seven innings as New York stopped a four-game losing streak, and David Weathers got six straight outs for his second save.
Rookie Jose Reyes tripled and scored for the Mets, who won for only the fifth time in 21 games. Cliff Floyd had an RBI groundout, Timo Perez hit a sacrifice fly and Jason Phillips had three hits. Wes Obermueller (0-2) lost for the fourth time in four big league starts, allowing two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in six innings.
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