Chicago – Their once commanding lead is almost gone, and the Chicago White Sox are showing no signs of shaking a late-season collapse.
“We’re just missing pitches. We’ve got to continue to battle and not put pressure on ourselves,” Chicago right fielder Jermaine Dye said after Thursday night’s crushing 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 11 innings knocked the White Sox’s Central lead over the Cleveland Indians to 1 1/2 games. The lead is the smallest for the White Sox since before they beat the Detroit Tigers on May 1.
“We’ve got to play these games out and see where we’re at,” Dye said.
The White Sox have lost 10 of 14. The 15-game lead they had Aug. 1 has all but evaporated. And with 10 games to go, they’ve got to find a way to get their offense going. On Thursday night, they squandered a bases-loaded threat in the ninth and a first-and-second situation in the 10th.
“We had our chances and I just didn’t do my job,” said Dye, who flied out with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth.
Matthew LeCroy hit a go-ahead single in the three-run 11th and Jacque Jones followed with a two-run double for the Twins.
Former Fairview High School athlete Jesse Crain (11-5), who got out of the first-and-second predicament in the 10th by getting Tadahito Iguchi to hit into a double play, earned the victory. Joe Nathan pitched the 11th for his 39th save.
Indians 11, Royals 6
Kansas City, Mo. – Travis Hafner hit his sixth home run in five games, and Coco Crisp added a two-run shot as Cleveland moved within 1 1/2 games of the Central lead.
Cliff Lee (18-4) won his ninth consecutive decision and the Indians won for the 15th time in 17 games. Lee allowed six runs and a season-high 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings, including light-hitting Mark Teahen’s grand slam that tied it at 5 in the fourth. His winning percentage of .818 leads the American League.
The loss was 100th for the Royals, who have reached that figure three of the past four seasons.
Yankees 7, Orioles 6
New York – Jorge Posada hit a tying home run in the fifth inning, then added a three-run, upper-deck drive in the sixth that backed starter Mike Mussina in his return from elbow trouble.
A night after moving past the Boston Red Sox to take over first place in the East for the first time since July 18, the Yankees won for the 10th time in 11 games and opened a season-high one-game lead with 10 remaining.
Mussina (13-8) pitched for the first time since Aug. 29, when he left a start at Seattle with elbow inflammation. The right-hander allowed four hits in six innings, struck out six and walked none, throwing 76 pitches. Baltimore’s only run off him came in the third, and it was unearned.
“It’s huge,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. “Hopefully he’s healthy tomorrow and he can continue to go for us.”
Angels 7, Rangers 4
Anaheim, Calif. – Adam Kennedy singled in the go-ahead run with the bases loaded, and Chone Figgins added a two-run single later in the sixth inning as Los Angeles won its sixth consecutive game.
The Angels increased their lead in the West to three games over the idle Oakland Athletics with their 40th comeback victory.
Ervin Santana (10-8) got the victory, allowing three runs and six hits, striking out three and walking two in six innings. The right-hander became the first Angels rookie to win 10 games since Jason Dickson won 13 in 1997.
Kelvim Escobar pitched three innings to record his first save of the season. He allowed the Rangers’ last run on an RBI groundout by Jason Botts in the ninth.
Blue Jays 7, Mariners 5
Toronto – Alex Rios broke a tie with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help Toronto beat Seattle.
Corey Koskie walked before Rios hit his 10th homer off Joel Piñeiro (7-10).
