White Sox Win a Close One Again

Frank Thomas’ heroics at the plate were made possible by Chicago’s relievers.

Thomas homered leading off the 13th inning Wednesday night, and the visiting Chicago White Sox beat Detroit, 4-3, at Comerica Park.

The Tigers had the winning run on third base in the eighth, ninth and 11th innings and loaded the bases with one out in the 13th, but the White Sox bullpen kept Detroit at bay.

“It’s crazy,� said Chicago Manager Ozzie Guillen, whose team is 22-8 in one-run games.

Shingo Takatsu (1-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win. He worked out of the jam in the 13th, striking out Brandon Inge and getting Placido Polanco to hit a grounder to second to end it.

Fernando Rodney (2-1) gave up Thomas’ home run.

“He’s a professional guy. A sure Hall of Famer,� Tiger Manager Alan Trammell said of Thomas. “He sat on a 2-0 changeup and hit it out of the park.�

Boston 5, Cleveland 2 -- Doug Mirabelli and Mark Bellhorn hit consecutive homers in a four-run sixth inning that backed Tim Wakefield, and the Red Sox won at Boston.

Wakefield’s scoreless streak of 19 innings ended in the fifth when Casey Blake tied the score at 1-1 with his 10th homer. Victor Martinez’s ninth homer gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

Aaron Boone went 0 for 3 against Wakefield with a groundout and two flyouts. Boone faced the knuckleballer for the first time since his 11th-inning homer capped the New York Yankees’ comeback in Game 7 of the 2003 AL championship series.

Toronto 12, Tampa Bay 3 -- Josh Towers didn’t give up a hit until the seventh inning and won for the first time since May 17 to lead the Blue Jays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Towers (6-7) allowed only one runner through six innings, hitting Nick Green with a pitch in the third, then gave up Aubrey Huff’s single to left with one out in the seventh.

Rookie Russ Adams homered and drove in a career-high five runs.

Oakland 6, Seattle 2 -- Joe Blanton won his fourth start in a row, and Nick Swisher homered for the fourth time in as many games, leading the Athletics to their sixth consecutive win, as they beat the Mariners at Oakland.

Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his first since May 21, to give him five this season.

Kansas City 3, Minnesota 1 -- David DeJesus had four hits at Minneapolis, and D.J. Carrasco rebounded from a rough start last week to help the Royals end an eight-game losing streak.

New York at Baltimore, ppd. -- The Yankee-Oriole game was postponed because of rain. No makeup date was announced.