After Belle Is Rung, the Fighting Begins

In Albert Belle vs. the Cleveland Indians, Part II, the fans behaved, but the players didn’t.

Belle laid another loud whack on his former team with a two-run double and James Baldwin gave up two hits in seven innings Wednesday night as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Indians, 9-4, at Cleveland.

The blowout cleared the ballpark, and a series of hit batsmen cleared the benches and bullpens.

“We weren’t throwing at them, but there was no doubt in my mind they were throwing at us,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said.

Belle, who also walked with the bases loaded, was hit by Jose Mesa in the eighth inning, setting off a series of hit batsmen and close calls that resulted in a bench-clearing situation in the ninth and two ejections.

Chicago reliever Bill Simas threw inside to Marquis Grissom in the ninth, prompting Grissom to walk toward the mound, pointing his bat. Both benches and bullpens cleared, but no punches were thrown.

Simas and Chicago Manager Terry Bevington both were ejected because Simas had been warned for throwing inside to Manny Ramirez leading off the inning.

Overshadowed by Belle’s presence and the building tension of this rivalry, James Baldwin (3-7) gave up two hits in seven innings with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Belle improved to six for 16 with two homers and 10 RBIs in four games against his former team.

Milwaukee 13, Boston 11--The Brewers overcame a seven-run deficit and beat the Red Sox behind three runs batted in from Jeromy Burnitz at Milwaukee.

The Brewers trailed, 7-0, before scoring five runs in the third inning and eight in the fourth. It was the Brewers’ sixth win in their last seven games, and Boston’s fifth consecutive loss.

Cal Eldred (6-5), coming off a shutout of Chicago, gave up a career-high eight runs in five innings and nine hits. Doug Jones pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

Baltimore 9, New York 7--Rafael Palmeiro did in the Yankees for a second consecutive night, doubling in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning at Baltimore as the Orioles completed another two-game sweep of the defending world champions.

Cal Ripken homered and Chris Hoiles had two RBIs for the Orioles, who extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games. Baltimore moved 9 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Yankees in the AL East, its biggest lead since Sept. 26, 1979.

Notes

Newly-acquired Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu’s long awaited minor-league debut has been pushed back from Friday to Tuesday at the behest of the New York Yankees. The Yankees signed Irabu to a four-year, $12.8 million contract last week. . . . Following a suggestion from New York Owner George Steinbrenner, Yankee Manager Joe Torre has decided to remove Mariano Duncan, a notoriously bad fielder, as the club’s starting second baseman. . . Bob Carter, a scout for the Kansas City Royals in the northeast, died in his sleep Tuesday, at the age of 63.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Dave Hollins

Team: Angels

Performance: 2 for 4, 3 RBIs, single, homer

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Chris Hoiles

Team: Baltimore

Performance: 3 for 4, 2 RBIs, run, three singles

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Ray Durham

Team: Chicago

Performance: 3 for 6, 3 runs, 2 singles, homer

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Jose Valentin

Team: Milwaukee

Performance: 3 for 4, 2 RBIs, 2 singles, homer

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: James Baldwin

Team: Chicago

Performance: 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 8 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Allen Watson

Team: Angels

Performance: 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win