Konerko Comes Through Again for the White Sox

Put Paul Konerko at the plate with the game on the line, and good things seem to happen.

Konerko had his second game-winning hit of the week Sunday, a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 14th inning that gave the Chicago White Sox a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

His homer in the 11th inning Wednesday night gave Chicago a 2-1 victory over Oakland.

“Paul is becoming one of the top money players in the league,� White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel said. “Even last year, in clutch situations, when he was a pinch-hitter he’d give you a good at-bat.�

The White Sox can use all the good at-bats they can get these days. They’re struggling at 8-15, and the victory kept them from being swept for the fourth time this year. Chicago was swept only two times last season when it won the Central Division.

The loss ended a nine-game winning streak for the Mariners. Still, Seattle (20-5) set a record for most wins in April and leads the West by nine games over Texas.

Cleveland 9, Texas 2--On Bartolo Colon’s 116th pitch, he registered an even more impressive three-digit number.

Colon hit 100 mph on the radar gun in the seventh inning and dominated the league’s best-hitting team for eight, and Juan Gonzalez and Marty Cordova each had three RBIs to lead the Indians at Jacobs Field.

Colon (3-1) gave up five hits and threw 132 pitches to win at home for the first time in four starts. He didn’t give up an earned run until the seventh and struck out a season-high 10 against a Texas team leading the league in average, hits, doubles, runs and RBIs.

Gonzalez, among the league leaders in eight offensive categories, has 20 RBIs in his last 17 games.

New York 3, Oakland 1--Roger Clemens struck out five in 7 1/3 innings to move past Gaylord Perry into sixth place on the career list as the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Athletics.

Clemens, pitching on the 15th anniversary of his first 20-strikeout game, passed Perry when he struck out Jason Giambi in the seventh for his 3,535th career strikeout.

Clemens (3-0) received a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd and had the ball taken out of play after his last strikeout of the game, as he did after tying Perry by striking out the previous batter, Miguel Tejada. He gave up one run, four hits and walked two for his first win in four outings.

Detroit 6, Tampa Bay 1--Dean Palmer, who had been sidelined since April 12 because of right shoulder inflammation, hit a three-run homer at Detroit in his first game back from the disabled list.

Palmer’s homer help boost the struggling Detroit offense. The Tigers, who entered the day 12th in the league in scoring, got 10 hits and six runs against Tampa Bay ace Albie Lopez (3-2).

Minnesota 4, Baltimore 0--J.C. Romero pitched six shutout innings at Minneapolis for his first victory in 12 starts. Romero (1-1), who lost seven consecutive decisions for Minnesota, yielded three hits, struck out seven and walked three for his first win since Aug. 11, lowering his earned-run average from 8.56 to 5.59.

Kansas City 11, Boston 8--Jermaine Dye hit a game-tying homer in the ninth and Joe Randa hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning to win at Boston despite Manny Ramirez’s two homers.

Ramirez had a season-high five RBIs. But Derek Lowe (1-4) gave up Dye’s homer with one out in the ninth--his second blown save in four opportunities.