Valentin Hits for Cycle in Red Sox’s 7-4 Victory

John Valentin had just finished a game in which he had gone a soft 0 for 5, and it may well be that Boston coach Tim Johnson had hard words for him in a pregame meeting Thursday night.

Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy isn’t saying, only remarking that the meeting might have motivated Valentin in a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Boston.

“I’m not going to discuss what was said, but sometimes you need a change in philosophy,” Kennedy said.

Whatever the change was, Valentin came to bat in the sixth inning with a chance to become the 14th Red Sox to hit for the cycle.

He had hit a two-run homer in the first inning, a triple in the third and a single in the fourth.

“I was looking for a good ball to hit, trying to be aggressive, but to be honest with you I didn’t think I’d ever accomplish this feat,” Valentin said.

Accomplish it he did, hitting a double to complete the cycle.

Valentin finished four for four and scored three runs. He was the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since Scott Cooper at Kansas City on April 12, 1994.

The Red Sox won, despite grounding into Chicago’s first triple play in 10 years.

After Valentin’s homer, Mo Vaught and Jose Canseco drew walks from Joe Magrane (1-2).

Tim Naehring then grounded a ball to Robin Ventura, who stepped on third base and threw to second baseman Ray Durham, who relayed the ball to Frank Thomas at first.

Chicago’s previous triple play was on June 15, 1986, at Seattle.

Seattle 5, Cleveland 2--Bob Wells pitched three-hit ball for six innings in his first start of the season and the Mariners won at Cleveland.

Wells (5-1), starting because Randy Johnson and Chris Bosio are on the disabled list, had made 40 relief appearances since his last start, May 27, 1995. He walked three and struck out three in his longest outing in 53 games.

Baltimore 13, Detroit 6--B.J. Surhoff hit a grand slam and had a season-high five RBIs for the Orioles, who completed a three-game sweep in which they scored 29 runs at Baltimore.

Cal Ripken also homered for the Orioles, who have won four in a row and 16 of 23. Roberto Alomar went two for four, stretching his hitting streak to 20 games.

Detroit has lost seven in a row and 19 of 20.

New York 8, Toronto 1--Andy Pettitte came within two outs of his first shutout in the major leagues, leading the Yankees to a win at New York with the help of Andy Fox’s first major-league homer, a three-run shot in a six-run eighth inning.

Pettitte (9-3) pitched a six-hitter and struck out eight.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Colorado 14, Houston 7--Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla hit two-run homers at Houston for the Rockies, who broke out of a batting slump and stopped a four-game losing streak.

Colorado, batting only .211 during the first nine games of a trip, had 18 hits in their last outing before returning home. Kevin Ritz (7-4) benefited, winning his fourth decision in a row.