AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Ventura Hits Two Slams for Chicago

Robin Ventura found a way to turn the boos he received from Texas Ranger fans into cheers. He hit two grand slams in one game against their team.

The Chicago White Sox third baseman had been a marked man in Arlington, Tex., since he charged the mound and took several blows to the head from Nolan Ryan during a brawl in 1993.

On Monday night, Ventura became the eighth player in major league history--and the first in 25 years--to hit two grand slams in one game when he connected in the fourth and fifth innings as the White Sox beat the Rangers, 14-3.

Ever since the Ryan incident, Ranger fans booed Ventura prior to each at-bat. But when he came to the plate in the seventh inning, he was cheered by many in the crowd of 18,036.

“Yeah, I’m big in Texas,” Ventura said with a laugh. “This is the first time people have ever cheered for me here.”

Ventura, who tied the club record with eight runs batted in, broke the game open with his first grand slam off reliever Dennis Cook. It was the sixth of his career to establish a franchise record and it gave the White Sox an 8-2 lead.

Ventura added his second grand slam of the night, and career-high 25th homer, off reliever Danny Darwin, pushing Chicago’s lead to 13-3.

Frank Robinson was the last major leaguer to hit two grand slams in a game on June 26, 1970, for the Baltimore Orioles. The last member of the White Sox to drive in eight runs in a game was Jim Spencer in 1977. The eight RBIs also tied Paul O’Neill of the New York Yankees and Mike Blowers of Seattle for most in a game this season.

“I need another day to reflect on it, to try and figure out what kind of accomplishment this is,” Ventura said. “I know it’s not something I’ll think about every day, but I won’t forget about it either.”

Ventura started the night tied with Ron Karkovice and Harold Baines for the franchise record with five grand slams each.

New York 13, Seattle 3--Paul O’Neill drove in three runs and the Yankees got a season-high 19 hits to beat the Mariners at New York.

O’Neill doubled home a run in the first, singled in another in the second and had an RBI groundout in the third as the Yankees took a 9-2 lead.

Andy Pettitte (8-8) won for the fifth time in his last seven decisions. He gave up eight hits and three runs in eight innings.

O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Wade Boggs and Dion James each had three hits for the Yankees. Williams hit his 16th homer, a three-run shot in the eighth.

Minnesota 9, Milwaukee 6--Kirby Puckett homered twice and Pedro Munoz had four hits as the Twins beat the Brewers at Minneapolis.

John Jaha hit a grand slam for Milwaukee, the team’s 10th of the season. The total ties the major league record by Detroit in 1938 and the New York Yankees in 1987.

Puckett, who has a .346 lifetime batting average against the Brewers, hit his 21st and 22nd home runs off starter Scott Karl (5-4). It was the 13th time in Puckett’s career that he has homered twice in a game.

Detroit 3, Cleveland 2--Tony Clark tripled for his first two major league RBIs as the Tigers beat the Indians at Detroit.

Clark, called up Sunday from Detroit’s Toledo farm club, hit a drive to center in the fourth that eluded a diving Kenny Lofton and rolled to the fence.

The triple scored Chris Gomez and Cecil Fielder, and tied the game at 2-2. Bobby Higginson’s sacrifice fly then brought Clark home to put the Tigers ahead.

Toronto 6-7, Kansas City 1-9--Paul Molitor had five hits, including a three-run homer, as the Blue Jays broke a seven-game losing streak by beating the Royals in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City.

Pinch-hitter Les Norman had a two-run triple in a three-run eighth inning of the second game as the Royals rallied for a split.

Norman, called up from triple-A Omaha earlier Monday, tripled inside the first-base line off reliever Tony Castillo. Castillo (1-4) had relieved starter Paul Menhart after the Royals scored four in the seventh.