Thomas Gets 1,000th RBI, White Sox Win

Frank Thomas drove in three runs, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday at Chicago.

Thomas’ RBI single in the first inning made him the fifth active player with 1,000 RBIs and 1,000 walks, joining Cal Ripken Jr., Chili Davis, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.

“I don’t know if our kids can really understand how difficult that is to obtain,” White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel said. “That’s being quite a consistent player for a long time. and he’s only 32.”

Manuel wants Thomas to play more often at first base and started him there for five straight games before allowing an “off day” Sunday as the designated hitter.

“I think it’s blown out of proportion,” Thomas said. “I don’t think there’s a big difference between me playing first and being the DH.”

Actually, there is. Thomas is batting .308 in 36 games as the designated hitter and .422 in 17 games at first. His power numbers are down--he has just five homers. Sunday, he extended his hitting streak to 13 games and is batting .415 during that stretch.

“I’m just back to basics,” he said. “I’m not worrying about the long ball.”

Thomas also had a two-run single in the sixth as the White Sox won for the sixth time in nine games.

The game drew 26,827, including a record walk-up of 14,059.

Seattle 4, San Diego 1--Tom Lampkin, who was with the Padres for parts of three seasons in the early 1990s, homered and hit an RBI double, and Edgar Martinez hit his 10th homer as the Mariners avoided being swept at San Diego.

And thanks to interleague play, Mariner rookie pitcher Freddy Garcia (7-2) got his first hit and RBI, as well as the win in a pitching duel with Andy Ashby. Garcia was one of three prospects obtained from Houston in the Randy Johnson trade July 31.

Garcia gave up four hits and an unearned run in eight innings, matching his longest outing. He struck out five and walked three.

“Eight excellent, excellent innings of baseball,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said of Garcia.

Lampkin, the backup catcher who was making his first start in a week, said it was the best of Garcia’s 12 starts.

“That’s pitching, man,” Lampkin said. “And he pitched today. You could tell because he had good location with his fastball. He threw it where he wanted. He threw it to both sides of the plate.”

San Diego remains the only team that hasn’t won three straight games this year.

Cincinnati 14, Kansas City 3--Sean Casey had five of Cincinnati’s 22 hits as the surging Reds won their eighth straight, all on the road.

The Reds swept the three-game series in their first visit to Kansas City and stretched the Royals’ losing streak to eight.

Cincinnati, which has won 13 of its last 15 road games and owns the second-best road mark (18-8) in the majors, passed the Chicago Cubs to move into second place in the NL Central, 1 1/2 games behind Houston.

St. Louis 8, Detroit 4--Mark McGwire had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh that produced the go-ahead run, as the Cardinals won at Detroit.

Willie McGee also had two hits and drove in two runs and Joe McEwing added a squeeze bunt and a single.

McGwire, who left after batting in the eighth, went three for 12 during the three games, hitting only one fly ball all weekend--a harmless pop to left field.

Cleveland 4, Chicago Cubs 2--One day after his baserunning instincts beat the Cubs, Roberto Alomar drove in three runs and Charles Nagy (7-3) won his fourth straight as the Indians won again at Cleveland.

Alomar hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a two-run single in the fifth to help the Indians take two of three from the Cubs.

On Saturday, Alomar went from home to third in the 11th inning without hitting the ball out of the infield, and then scored the winning run.

Minnesota 13, Houston 6--Javier Valentin came within a single of the cycle, and the twins got a season-high 21 hits in beating the Astros at Minneapolis.

Every Minnesota starter had at least two hits. The Astros had 11 hits, and there was not a single half-inning in which the side was retired in order.

Valentin, who was three for five, had a chance to become the first Twin player to hit for the cycle since Kirby Puckett on Aug. 1, 1986. But he flied out in the eighth inning.

“My teammates were kidding me that if I hit it to the wall I should have pulled a hammy or missed first base and had to go back,” Valentin said.

Asked if that would have been acceptable, Twins Manager Tom Kelly deadpanned, “I don’t think so.”

Toronto 9, Montreal 2--Tony Fernandez homered and drove in three runs as the Blue Jays beat the Expos at Toronto.

Fernandez, who went three for five, hit a two-run double in the third and a solo home run in the fourth.

Darrin Fletcher also homered for the Blue Jays, who are 7-3 against the Expos since the start of interleague play in 1997.

Philadelphia 11, Baltimore 7--Mike Lieberthal hit two homers and two doubles and drove in four runs at Baltimore as the Phillies feasted on the Orioles’ struggling bullpen.

The Phillies, who had a season-high 19 hits, trailed, 5-1, before rallying to score eight runs over two innings against relievers Doug Johns, Mike Fetters and Ricky Bones.

Baltimore’s bullpen gave up 15 runs over 9 1/3 innings in the series.

Florida 11, Tampa Bay 6--Tim Hyers hit the first two home runs of his career and rookie Bruce Aven added his second grand slam of the season as the Marlins swept the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“That guy [Aven] comes up with more bases-loaded [situations]--he gets three or four a game,” Marlin interim Manager Fredi Gonzalez said, exaggerating his point.

“He comes up and he capitalizes,” Gonzalez added, a statement closer to the truth. “He knows how to do that.”