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  Sunday, Sep. 3 2:05pm ET
Thomas: 40-homer season his fourth
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CHICAGO (AP) -- After beating Anaheim ace reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa once this weekend, the Chicago White Sox were confident they could do it again.

Frank Thomas
Thomas

Frank Thomas hit his 40th homer and drove in four runs as the White Sox needed to rally late against Hasegawa despite scoring nine runs in the first inning of a 13-12 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

"When you've gone through the bullpen in the first game, then it feels comfortable when you do it again in the third game of the series," Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said after the team's fifth straight win. "We have some guys who are very clutch performers."

Chicago led 9-4 after one before coming back from a 12-11 deficit in the eighth against Hasegawa (8-5). Carlos Lee doubled with one out and scored on Herbert Perry's triple to tie the game. Paul Konerko hit a sacrifice fly to right to go ahead 13-12.

"It was pretty much like a heavyweight fight," Manuel said. "I thought we had them with a rope-a-dope or whatever we were doing out there."

Hasegawa, who couldn't hold an 8-5 lead Friday, blew his second save in the series. Hasegawa entered the series having given up just one earned run in his previous 34 1/3 innings

"How can you discount this team we just played?" said Anaheim's Tim Salmon. "They battle you every step, up and down the lineup. They never say die."

Kelly Wunsch (5-3) pitched two innings for the win. Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 32 opportunities.

Thomas hit an RBI double and a two-run double in the first as the White Sox scored nine runs off Ramon Ortiz, who retired only two batters in the shortest outing in his 22-start career. Thomas added a solo shot in the sixth to draw Chicago within 11-10. It is the fourth 40-homer season for Thomas, who hit only 15 in an injury-riddled 1999. He is one shy of his career high of 41 set in 1993.

Troy Glaus set an Angels record by hitting his 40th home run, one of five homers by Anaheim. Salmon and Scott Spiezio each hit three-run homers and Darin Erstad hit a pair of solo shots.

Salmon homered in the sixth, his 32nd, off rookie Matt Ginter to put the Angels ahead 10-9. One out later, Glaus followed with his 40th off Ginter to break the club mark of 39 set by Reggie Jackson in 1982.

"That's not what I'm thinking about, individual records," Glaus said. "I've never thought about hitting 40 home runs. Every time you lose, you could have done more."

Erstad hit his 12th career leadoff homer in the first off starter James Baldwin and led off the seventh against Kelly Wunsch with his 23rd homer. It was Erstad's third multihomer game this year and fifth of his career.

Spiezio matched a career high with four RBI, hitting a sacrifice fly in the first and a three-run homer, his 14th, in the third.

The White Sox, the top offensive team in the AL, scored 35 runs in the three-game series and posted their first sweep of the Angels at home since April 1996.

However, the team isn't perfect.

"The only thing that concerns me about the pitching is base on balls," said Manuel, whose team walked nine. "Walks and home runs, that's not a good combination to win ballgames."

Garret Anderson hit a two-run double and scored on Spiezio's sacrifice fly to give Anaheim a 4-0 in the first.

The White Sox scored nine in their half. Thomas hit an RBI double and a run scored on a wild pitch by Ortiz. Magglio Ordonez hit a sacrifice fly and Konerko hit an RBI single to tie the game at 4.

Mark Johnson hit a two-run single and Ray Durham added an RBI double, his second hit in the inning, to make it 7-4. Jose Valentin walked and Thomas followed with his second double to make it 9-4 and knock out Ortiz.

"It's always an uphill battle when you go to the bullpen in the first inning," Anaheim's Mike Scioscia said.

Baldwin, making his second start since being sidelined 12 days with a tired arm, gave up seven runs on five hits and six walks over 2 1/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season.

"I went out there and didn't get the job done," Baldwin said. "We won the ballgame and everybody's happy about that but I think everybody's tired."

Game notes
The White Sox also scored nine runs in the first inning June 18 against the Yankees. Their high for most runs in an inning is 11 April 18 against Seattle in the fourth. The White Sox have batted around in an inning 31 times this season. ... Anaheim's Kent Mercker, who left Saturday's game after two innings, has a strained left shoulder and is day to day. ... The Angels have hit four or more homers a club-record 11 times this year. ... Erstad's homer was the first by a left-handed batter off Wunsch this year.
 


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RECAPS
Cleveland 12
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Texas 4
Detroit 1

Minnesota 2
NY Yankees 1

Oakland 4
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Kansas City 8
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Chi. White Sox 13
Anaheim 12

Seattle 5
Boston 0

Cincinnati 8
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Pittsburgh 8
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Philadelphia 1

AUDIO/VIDEO
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 Herbert Perry says Sunday's game was draining.
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 Jerry Manuel says his young team is learning.
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