Alvarez, White Sox Hand Indians First Shutout of Season

Wilson Alvarez, who has been pretty tough to beat lately, shut down the Cleveland Indians, who have been quite the opposite for a while.

Alvarez (10-4) and Roberto Hernandez combined for the first shutout of Cleveland this season in a 7-0 victory Friday night at Jacobs Field.

The second-place White Sox have taken the first two games of this four-game series to cut Cleveland’s lead in the American League Central to two games.

Cleveland was the only club in the majors that had not been blanked this season.

Alvarez is 8-1 with two no-decisions in his last 11 starts. The left-hander lowered his earned-run average to 1.21 in his last six outings.

Those numbers include 15 2/3 scoreless innings against the Indians. Alvarez threw 7 2/3 shutout innings against Cleveland and got a no-decision in Chicago’s win on June 29.

“I pitch the same way all the time--aggressively and 100% on every pitch,” said Alvarez, who walked one, struck out four and yielded five hits in eight innings. “Tonight it worked.”

And it finally started feeling like pennant fever--at least according to White Sox catcher Ron Karkovice.

“It is a big series,” Karkovice said. “We want to win another one now. We can make a move.”

The odd evening at Jacobs Field included a 370-foot single and a 4-6-2 fielder’s choice. The White Sox got nine hits before they scored their first run, and broke open the game with five unearned runs in the ninth.

Harold Baines and Frank Thomas each had three hits for Chicago.

Orel Hershiser (9-5) took the loss, ending a five-game winning streak.

“The key to the game was the fact that they scored and we didn’t,” Hershiser said.

Hershiser worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but it got weird in the fifth.

Ray Durham led off with a single and moved to second base on a groundout. The inning ended when Durham tried to score from second on what looked like a double-play grounder by Dave Martinez.

Carlos Baerga flipped to shortstop Omar Vizquel, who looked at third and saw Durham racing home. Vizquel threw to catcher Sandy Alomar for the easy out, and the inning was over.

Minnesota 9, Kansas City 8-- Royal starter Mark Gubicza was knocked out when a first-inning line drive broke his left leg and Jeff Montgomery blew another save as the Royals lost at Minneapolis.

Gubicza was carried off the field on a golf cart after Paul Molitor’s liner hit him on the left shin. Gubicza fell to the ground in obvious pain and the ball bounced all the way to the first-base foul line. Gubicza suffered a broken left tibia, and Royals’ doctors said he will be sidelined for six to eight weeks.

Kansas City took an 8-4 lead into the ninth but Montgomery (1-6) blew a save for the fourth time in his last five chances. He has given up 14 runs and 17 hits in his last 11 outings.

New York 12, Milwaukee 3--Mike Aldrete, who may be demoted to the minors when Darryl Strawberry arrives, went three for four and drove in four runs as the Yankees won at New York.

Aldrete hit a two-run homer during a four-run fourth inning that helped a shaky Dwight Gooden (8-4) improve to 8-1 in his last 12 starts.

Gooden gave up five hits, walked three and hit two batters.

Aldrete added a single and a two-run double; however, his immediate future with the Yankees is uncertain following the team’s signing of Strawberry on Thursday. Aldrete, 35, has been used primarily as a designated hitter since being acquired last month from the Angels.

Boston 7, Baltimore 3--Aaron Sele earned his first victory since May 19, and Jose Malave and Jose Canseco both hit three-run homers as the Red Sox beat the Orioles at Baltimore.

Sele (3-5) gave up four hits, struck out five and walked three in 7 2/3 innings. The right-hander came in with a 6.22 ERA and was 0-2 in seven starts since beating Oakland nearly seven weeks ago.

Seattle 6, Texas 3--Sterling Hitchcock matched his career high with nine strikeouts and won for the fifth time in his last six decisions as the Mariners won at Arlington, Texas.

Hitchcock (8-3) gave up six hits and walked two in 8 1/3 innings and Mike Jackson finished.

Seattle is 5-2 against Texas this year and 27-6 against the Rangers since Sept. 21, 1993.

Detroit 4, Toronto 3--Bobby Higginson hit a two-run homer in a four-run fourth inning and the Tigers matched a season high with their third consecutive victory at Detroit.

Tiger starter A.J. Sager (1-1) gave up one run and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked seven.