AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Longest Day for White Sox, Rangers

One of the casualties of the baseball strike was off days that could be used to make up rainouts. All too often this season, it’s doubleheader or nothing.

Wednesday in Chicago, it was both. After 7 hours 39 minutes of baseball that included 32 walks and eight wild pitches, the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox had split the longest 18-inning doubleheader in major league history.

“Time doesn’t matter. . . . It’s one of the few sports where there is no clock,” Texas Manager Johnny Oates said, stating the obvious as philosophy after his Rangers won the second game, 13-6. “You don’t want to spend all day here and lose two. Winning the second one makes it a little easier.”

The Rangers’ Benji Gil capped a seven-run third inning with a three-run homer in the second game.

The White Sox won the opener, 10-8, by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. John Kruk, in his Chicago debut after being activated just before the game, drove in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded walk.

To make room for Kruk, the White Sox designated Chris Sabo for reassignment.

The 7:39 for 18 innings was well past the 6:50 record set by Detroit and Kansas City on July 23, 1961.

Seattle 15, Boston 6--Mike Blowers drove in eight runs with a two-run homer, bases-loaded double and bases-loaded triple for the Mariners, who won at Seattle.

Detroit 14, Minnesota 3--Travis Fryman broke a one-for-15 slump with four hits, including a homer, and the Tigers had 18 hits at Detroit in their fifth victory in a row.

Mike Moore (4-2) was the beneficiary of the Tigers’ most productive outing of the season, giving up four hits in seven innings.

Kansas City 8, Toronto 5--Jon Nunnally tripled in the go-ahead run and then stole home in the fifth inning, and Wally Joyner and Gary Gaetti homered for the Royals at Kansas City.

After Nunnally tripled to right-center to put the Royals up, 3-2, in the fifth, Royal Manager Bob Boone called for a suicide squeeze. When Tom Goodwin couldn’t get the bunt down, Nunnally sidestepped Lance Parrish’s tag.

Milwaukee 7, Cleveland 5--B.J. Surhoff had two of the Brewers’ seven hits during a seven-run fourth inning in Cleveland, giving former replacement pitcher Ron Rightnowar (1-0) his first major league victory.

Rightnowar, 30, who was a career minor leaguer before being called up last Friday, gave up one run in two-plus innings of relief.

Oakland 5, Baltimore 3--Geronimo Berroa’s single in the eighth inning scored Rickey Henderson and Stan Javier and broke a 3-3 tie as the Athletics won in Oakland.

Jim Corsi (1-0) picked up the victory for Oakland, with Dennis Eckersley pitching the ninth inning for his sixth save of the season and 300th of his career.