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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Jose Valentin made the pain go away with one
simple swing.
Appearing as a pinch-hitter because a pelvic inflammation kept
him out of the starting lineup, Valentin capped one of the Chicago
White Sox's most remarkable victories in this most improbable
season.
|  | | Jose Valentin of the White Sox watches his two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning Friday. |
He hit a go-ahead, two-run single to finish a six-run eighth
inning Friday night as the White Sox rallied against one of
baseball's best relievers, Anaheim's Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and beat
the Angels 9-8.
"It only hurts when I run, not when I swing," Valentin said in
a jubilant White Sox clubhouse where the walls rocked with loud
music. "I saw the ball drop in the outfield and all the pain went
away.
"This time of year to win like this is just big. We were down
8-2 and only had three more shots."
Chicago stayed 7½ games ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central. The Angels are four games back of Seattle in the AL West.
"We were all watching the scoreboard and we knew Cleveland had
won," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "To come back and win
like that speaks volumes about the club, to overcome what we
overcame."
The White Sox trailed 8-3 entering the eighth before Frank
Thomas hit his 39th homer and Magglio Ordonez followed with his
26th homer off Al Levine.
After Carlos Lee singled, Levine was replaced by Hasegawa (8-4),
who had given up just one earned run in his previous 34 1-3
innings.
He yielded a single to Paul Konerko, struck out out Harold
Baines and then gave up an RBI single to Charles Johnson that went
off third baseman Troy Glaus' glove and made it 8-6.
Ray Durham followed with an RBI double down the third-base line
to make it 8-7 in what Manuel called the key at-bat of the rally.
Valentin then dropped a soft single to center to score two and put
the White Sox ahead.
"You can't get them all the time. I'm not going to change
anything, other than being a little more patient when they foul a
lot of balls off," Hasegawa said.
"You like situations like that, it makes you a better player,"
Valentin said. "You want to be a hero, all eyes are on you and
your team is counting on you."
The victory went to rookie Matt Ginter (1-0), who pitched a
scoreless eighth in his major league debut. Keith Foulke pitched
the ninth for his 26th save in 31 chances, striking out Mo Vaughn
and Tim Salmon to end the game.
Glaus tied a club record with his 39th homer, a two-run shot to
cap a four-run first. Vaughn hit a grand slam in the fifth as the
Angels jumped out to a big lead they couldn't hold.
"It's a tough way to start out the month, no doubt about,"
Vaughn said. "But we're resilient and we ain't going away."
Glaus tied Reggie Jackson's club mark set in 1982. Darin Erstad
had three hits, giving him 204 and breaking the Angels record of
202 set by Alex Johnson in 1970.
The Angels jumped on Sean Lowe in the first as Erstad singled,
Vaughn walked with one out and Garret Anderson hit a two-run triple
that went off the glove of center fielder Chris Singleton. Glaus
then homered to make it 4-0.
Chicago trimmed it to 4-2 on an RBI double from Herbert Perry
and Ray Durham's 16th homer.
But in the fifth, Kevin Stocker's fly ball single fell in front
of Singleton, who broke back on the ball. Erstad walked and Orlando
Palmeiro reached on a bunt to load the bases.
Lorenzo Barcelo replaced Lowe and Vaughn hit the first pitch to
right-center field for his ninth career grand slam to make it 8-2.
It was Vaughn's 34th homer. Durham hit a bases-loaded RBI grounder in the seventh.
Game notes
Durham, who had three RBIs, made the defensive play of the
night in the ninth. With a runner at first, Palmeiro bunted and
Foulke caught it in the air and threw to first trying to get a
double play. The wild throw was headed up the line but Durham, who
had backed up the play from second base, made a diving and tumbling
stop. ... The White Sox brought up catcher Josh Paul, pitchers Chad
Bradord and Matt Ginter and infielder Craig Wilson as rosters
expanded to 40. ... The Angels activated catcher Matt Walbeck
(right knee tendinitis) from the 15-day disabled list and called up
infielder Justin Baughman and pitchers Ben Weber and Bryan Ward.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Anaheim Clubhouse
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 6
Seattle 2
Cleveland 5
Baltimore 2
Detroit 7
Texas 5
NY Yankees 4
Minnesota 2
Toronto 4
Oakland 3
Kansas City 9
Tampa Bay 5
Chi. White Sox 9
Anaheim 8
Cincinnati 8
Montreal 2
Houston 3
Atlanta 2
St. Louis 6
NY Mets 5
Colorado 5
Milwaukee 3
Florida 8
Arizona 7
Pittsburgh 3
San Diego 2
Los Angeles 2
Philadelphia 1
San Francisco 7
Chicago Cubs 2
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