How Soon the Indians Have Forgotten

The Cleveland Indians, of all teams, should have known better than to challenge Albert Belle.

“You can’t intentionally walk me to get to Albert. Teams have done it twice this season and twice he’s hit grand slams,” Frank Thomas said Tuesday night after the White Sox beat Cleveland, 8-2, at Chicago.

Belle’s ninth grand slam of his career extended his hitting streak to 22 games. Getting it against his former team had to make it even sweeter for the surly $55 million outfielder. But who knows? As usual, Belle wasn’t talking.

“There is always something that drives you when you play your ex-teammates,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to play them some more and Albert’s just got to keep doing his thing.”

Doug Drabek (4-3), who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning by getting David Justice on a double-play grounder, pitched seven strong innings and the White Sox gained a split of the two-game series.

Belle had dropped a fly ball for an error and was 0 for 2 with a strikeout when he came to the plate in the fourth inning with Chicago leading, 4-0. Albie Lopez (2-3) walked Thomas and Belle then lined his 10th homer of the season over the fence in right.

Belle also had a grand slam against Oakland after the A’s decided to walk Thomas intentionally on May 11. Thomas leads the American League with 48 walks, but has only two intentional passes all season. Last season he led the AL with 26 intentional walks.

Minnesota 11, Seattle 10--Norm Charlton walked Chuck Knoblauch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, capping a six-run rally that lifted the Twins to a wild win in Minneapolis.

The Mariners’ ninth-inning collapse spoiled a game in which Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Cora set records. Griffey hit his 23rd homer, breaking his own major league mark for homers through May. Cora went four for six to extend his hitting streak to a team-record 22 games, which also tied the AL mark for switch-hitters.

Marty Cordova hit a solo homer in the eighth inning to pull Minnesota to 10-5, and his three-run shot off Charlton (2-4) tied the game at 10.

Griffey’s two-run homer, a 442-foot shot into the upper deck in right, surpassed the mark he had set through May 1994. He is on pace to hit 76 homers.

Cora has a share of the league record for hits in consecutive games by switch-hitters with Eddie Murray (1984) and Roberto Alomar (1996).

Baltimore 10, New York 6--Pete Incaviglia drove in four runs and Jeffrey Hammonds hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who won in New York and have eight victories in their last 10 games.

The Yankees are going in the other direction, losing seven of their last eight and falling to eight games behind Baltimore.

New York is 1-6 against the AL East after losing a two-game series to the Orioles.

The chief Yankee culprit was pitcher Kenny Rogers (3-3), who has only one win in six starts since April 23. He was pounded for nine runs--six earned--and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

His counterpart, Scott Kamieniecki (4-2), starting against his former team for the first time, had a 10-2 lead by the fifth inning, though he struggled. He gave up four runs--two earned--and seven hits in five innings.

The Yankees left 14 on base.

Baltimore blew open the game with a five-run fifth inning that featured Incaviglia’s bases-loaded, two-run single that chased Rogers, B.J. Surhoff’s two-run double off Jim Mecir and Chris Hoiles’ RBI single.

Boston 7, Milwaukee 6--Designated hitter Reggie Jefferson hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the sixth inning, then Mike Stanley pinch-hit for Jefferson in the seventh and delivered an RBI single to give the Red Sox a win at Boston.

With the Red Sox trailing, 6-4, in the sixth inning, Mo Vaughn doubled and Jefferson followed with his seventh home run. But with two men on, two out and left-hander Joel Adamson (1-1) pitching in the seventh, lefty Jefferson was lifted for the other half of Boston’s DH platoon.

Right-hander Bob Wickman came on to face Stanley, who lined a 3-and-2 pitch to left field.

Texas 15, Toronto 5--John Burkett pitched seven strong innings and Domingo Cedeno had three hits and three RBIs for the Rangers, who won at Toronto.

Burkett (4-3), who had given up 18 hits, 12 runs and four homers in his previous two starts, gave up only two runs on seven hits. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter in his first complete game of the season.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Mark McGwire

Team: Oakland

Performance: 1 for 3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, home run

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Marty Cordova

Team: Minnesota

Performance: 2 for 5, 2 runs, 4 RBIs, 2 home runs

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: P. Incaviglia

Team: Baltimore

Performance: 3 for 5, 2 runs, 4 RBIs, 3 singles

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Joey Cora

Team: Seattle

Performance: 4 for 6, 2 runs, RBI, 2 doubles

Team’s Result: Loss

PITCHING

Player: Doug Drabek

Team: Chicago

Performance: 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: John Burkett

Team: Texas

Performance: 7 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win