BIG HURT BELTS 60TH HR AS CHISOX ROUT YANKS
Twins Loss Puts Sox Back on Top; Yanks, BoSox tied
CHICAGO, Sept. 23 (AP) - Frank Thomas reached a milestone, cracking his 60th
home run of the 2003 season, helping the Chicago White Sox past the New York
Yankees, 13-4, before a sellout crowd at U.S. Cellular Field. The victory,
coupled with Minnesota's loss at home to Cleveland, puts the White Sox back on
top in the American League Central Division by one game with five contests
remaining for each club. Despite the loss, the Yankees remain in a first
place tie with Boston in the AL East; the Red Sox fell at home to the Baltimore
Orioles for the second straight day.
The White Sox broke out to a big early lead, chasing New York starter Jose
Contreras (8-2) from the mound in the third inning, and never looked back.
Chicago scored three runs in the second on a solo home run off the bat of Paul
Koneko and, two batters later, a two-run shot from Sandy Alomar, Jr. The
White Sox doubled that lead in the third on Carl Everett's run-scoring double
and Konerko's two-run single.
The Yankees got on the board in the top of the third when Nick Johnson doubled
home Alfonso Soriano, but the White Sox effectively put the game away with their
third consecutive three-run inning in the bottom of the fourth. Sandy
Alomar led off with a double but was thrown out at third on brother Roberto's
swinging bunt grounder, resulting in a fielder's choice. Reliever Eric
Weaver hit Carlos Lee with a pitch, putting runners on first and second with one
out and bringing Thomas to the plate. The Big Hurt laced a double into
right-center field, scoring Alomar and chasing Lee to third base, giving Chicago
a 7-1 lead. A passed ball allowed Lee to score and advanced Thomas to
third and Konerko followed with a walk, putting runners on the corners.
Everett then rolled a single through the right side of the infield, scoring
Thomas and increasing the White Sox's lead to eight runs. Weaver avoided
further damage but the writing was on the wall.
Jason Giambi's 38th home run of the season came off White Sox starter Mark
Buehrle (15-11) in the sixth to make it 9-2, but Thomas, facing Gabe White to
start the bottom of the frame, was green lighted on 3-0 pitch and hammered
a get-me-over fastball down the left field line, halfway up the grandstand, for
his 60th home run of the year. Thomas has essentially lapped the field in
the home run race, and now stands 14 ahead of second place Carlos Delgado (46)
of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The White Sox ended their scoring on the day on Aaron Rowand's two-run seventh
inning triple and Tony Graffanino's RBI single in the eight.
Buehrle seemed to tire a bit in the ninth, but Chicago manager Jerry Manuel let
him finish the contest--his fourth complete game of the season--despite allowing
Aaron Boone's two-out, two-run home run.
The Yankees and White Sox will meet again, in the rubber match of their
three-game series, tomorrow, in a game that is critical to both clubs' division
championship prospects.
9/23/2003, NYY03-CWS03, U.S. Cellular Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Yankees 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 8 0 5 1 2003 White Sox 0 3 3 3 0 1 2 1 x 13 13 0 7 0 Yankees AB R H BI AVG White Sox AB R H BI AVG Soriano,A 2b 4 1 1 0 .277 Alomar,R 2b 3 1 0 0 .287 Johnson,N dh 4 0 2 1 .293 Lee,Ca lf 3 2 1 0 .283 Jeter ss 4 0 1 0 .302 Rowand lf 1 0 1 2 .255 Giambi,Ja 1b 3 1 1 1 .265 Thomas,F dh 4 3 2 2 .277 Flaherty c 1 0 0 0 .160 Ordonez,M rf 3 0 0 0 .289 Posada c 3 0 0 0 .268 Harris,W cf 1 0 0 0 .163 Seguignol 1b 1 0 0 0 .000 Everett,C cf 5 1 2 2 .286 Williams,B cf 2 0 0 0 .231 Daubach rf 0 0 0 0 .180 Sierra ph 1 0 0 0 .299 Konerko 1b 4 2 2 3 .278 Matsui lf 3 1 1 0 .324 Valentin,Jo ss 2 0 0 0 .220 Boone,A 3b 4 1 2 2 .247 Graffanino ss 2 0 1 1 .250 Rivera,J rf 4 0 0 0 .211 Crede 3b 4 2 1 0 .243 34 4 8 4 Alomar,S c 4 2 3 2 .264 36 13 13 12 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Contreras L 8-2 2.1 6 6 6 2 3 58 31 3.39 Weaver 2.2 3 3 2 3 1 62 35 6.34 White,G 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 16 10 6.00 Nelson 1.0 2 2 2 1 2 25 16 2.43 Heredia 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 15 8 3.27 8.0 13 13 12 7 7 176 100 White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Buehrle W 15-11 9.0 8 4 4 2 3 128 82 3.72 9.0 8 4 4 2 3 128 82 NYY: Flaherty inserted at c in the 7th Seguignol inserted at 1b in the 7th Sierra batted for Williams,B in the 9th CWS: Rowand inserted at lf in the 7th Harris,W inserted at cf in the 7th Everett,C moved to rf in the 7th Graffanino inserted at ss in the 7th Daubach inserted at rf in the 9th 2B-Johnson,N(17), Lee,Ca(36), Thomas,F(33), Everett,C(27), Alomar,S(9). 3B-Rowand(1). HR-Giambi,Ja(38), Boone,A(28), Thomas,F(60), Konerko(18), Alomar,S(7). RBI-Johnson,N(36), Giambi,Ja(116), Boone,A 2(84), Thomas,F 2(128), Everett,C 2(93), Konerko 3(58), Alomar,S 2(16), Rowand 2(21), Graffanino(17). SB-Soriano,A(32), Alomar,R(11). CS-Johnson,N. K-Soriano,A, Giambi,Ja, Flaherty, Alomar,R, Lee,Ca 2, Thomas,F, Valentin,Jo, Harris,W, Graffanino. BB-Williams,B, Matsui, Alomar,R 2, Thomas,F, Ordonez,M, Konerko, Valentin,Jo, Crede. HBP-Lee,Ca. PB-Posada. HB-Weaver. WP-Heredia. GWRBI: Konerko Temperature: 67, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 13 MPH. Attendance: 41,504 Game Time: 2:54