BIG HURT BELTS 3 HRS AS CHISOX WALK-OFF TRIBE
Clubs Combine for 9 HRs
CHICAGO, Sept. 7 (AP) - Frank Thomas belted three solo home runs, the last of
which broke a 7-all tie in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Chicago White
Sox completed an 8-7 walk-off victory over the Cleveland Indians at U.S.
Cellular Field. Already the major leagues' leading home run hitter by a
wide margin, Thomas now has 56 round-trippers on the season; no one else in
either league has more than 42.
The victory was much needed by the White Sox, and broke a four-game losing
streak. Chicago moves back into first place in the American League Central
by a half-game, pending the outcome of Minnesota's game with Texas.
Early on, the White Sox appeared headed to an easy win. They rallied for
two runs in the first inning on Carl Everett's two-out bases loaded single and
then appeared to break the game wide open in the third. Thomas started
things off with his 54th home run of the season to increase the lead to three
runs. Magglio Ordonez walked and the Carlos Lee hammered a Cliff Lee
breaking ball into the left field stands for his 24th home run of the
year. One out later, Paul Konerko ended Lee's afternoon by crushing the
third Chicago home run of the inning to up the White Sox's lead to 6-0.
But the Indians began fighting back in the fourth with the help of a long ball
of their own. Victor Martinez led off with a single and Travis Hafner
followed with a long home run into the bleachers in right-center field to cut
the lead to 6-2. Alex Escobar drew a walk and, one out later, Jhonny
Peralta reached on a free pass of his own. Coco Crisp grounded out,
advancing the runners to second and third and Casey Blake followed with a base
hit into left, scoring Escobar but Lee threw out Peralta at the plate to end the
inning. Still, Cleveland had cut the deficit in half.
In the fourth, Thomas belted his second home run of the game to increase the
lead to 7-3, but in the top of the fifth Jody Gerut and Ben Broussard hit
back-to-back blasts to bring the Indians to within two runs.
Cleveland nudged a run closer in the top of the sixth on Gerut's sacrifice fly
and then drew even in the seventh when Escobar greeted reliever Billy Koch with
another home run.
Both offenses were surprisingly quiet after that. In the bottom of the
ninth, with Jose Santiago on the mound, Thomas stepped to the plate.
Santiago hung an 0-1 slider and Thomas made him pay, depositing the baseball
roughly 10 rows into the seats in straight away left field to end the game.
Thomas is the third player in the major leagues this year to hit at least three
home runs in a game twice. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox and
Javy Lopez of the Braves both accomplished the feat earlier this season, though
Lopez hit four home runs on August 8. Thomas' other three-home run game
came on July 17 in a 13-2 victory over Detroit at U.S. Cellular Field.
9/7/2003, Cle03-CWS03, U.S. Cellular Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Indians 0 0 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 7 10 0 7 2 2003 White Sox 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 11 0 7 0 Indians AB R H BI AVG White Sox AB R H BI AVG Crisp cf 5 0 1 0 .273 Graffanino ss 4 1 1 0 .257 Blake 3b 3 0 1 1 .256 Alomar,R 2b 4 1 1 0 .293 Gerut lf 3 1 2 2 .306 Olivo c 0 0 0 0 .224 Ludwick ph 1 0 0 0 .275 Thomas,F dh 5 3 3 3 .276 Broussard 1b 5 1 2 1 .261 Ordonez,M rf 2 1 0 0 .290 Martinez,V c 5 1 1 0 .287 Lee,Ca lf 4 1 1 2 .295 Hafner dh 3 1 1 2 .256 Everett,C cf 3 0 2 2 .289 Escobar,A rf 3 2 1 1 .279 Konerko 1b 4 1 1 1 .282 Santos,A 2b 4 0 0 0 .203 Crede 3b 4 0 1 0 .246 Peralta ss 2 1 1 0 .227 Alomar,S c 3 0 1 0 .270 34 7 10 7 Daubach ph 0 0 0 0 .184 Harris,W pr 0 0 0 0 .169 33 8 11 8 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Lee,Cl 2.2 5 6 6 3 1 57 32 5.23 Mulholland 1.1 4 1 1 0 0 26 18 6.40 Lee,Da 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 18 11 0.00 Boyd 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 17 8 2.88 Betancourt 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 20 11 1.52 Riske 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 22 12 3.03 Santiago,J L 1-1 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 4.63 8.0 11 8 8 6 5 162 94 White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wright,D 5.0 8 5 5 4 3 97 56 8.30 Sullivan H 3 0.1 1 1 1 2 0 15 6 3.67 Wunsch H 10 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 12 9 1.93 Koch BS 4 1.1 1 1 1 0 0 19 14 7.02 Marte W 4-2 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 13 8 2.77 9.0 10 7 7 6 5 156 93 Cle: Ludwick batted for Gerut in the 9th Ludwick moved to lf in the 9th CWS: Daubach batted for Alomar,S in the 8th Harris,W ran for Daubach in the 8th Olivo inserted at c in the 9th Harris,W moved to 2b in the 9th 2B-Everett,C(25). HR-Gerut(19), Broussard(9), Hafner(14), Escobar,A(2), Thomas,F 3(56), Lee,Ca(24), Konerko(16). RBI-Blake(81), Gerut 2(58), Broussard(43), Hafner 2(34), Escobar,A(10), Thomas,F 3(120), Lee,Ca 2(97), Everett,C 2(89), Konerko(50). SB-Harris,W(13). CS-Gerut. K-Crisp, Broussard, Martinez,V 2, Escobar,A, Graffanino, Thomas,F, Crede 2, Alomar,S. BB-Blake 2, Hafner, Escobar,A, Peralta 2, Graffanino, Alomar,R, Ordonez,M 2, Everett,C, Daubach. SF-Gerut. WP-Lee,Cl. GWRBI: Thomas,F Temperature: 71, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: left to right at 13 MPH, Rain Delays: 78 minutes. Attendance: 35,279 Game Time: 3:28