On Cold Day, Sele Chills White Sox’s Offense, 11-0

Clearly, Aaron Sele wasn’t bothered by the chill.

On an afternoon with a 42-degree temperature and northerly winds gusting to 24 mph, Sele pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout, leading the Texas Rangers over the White Sox, 11-0, Thursday at Chicago.

“I was looking to buy an Illinois hunting license to go deer hunting,” said Sele, who grew up near Seattle. “I was probably the warmest person on the field.”

Sele, making his 110th start, struck out five and walked four. He had beaten Chicago, 20-4, on April 2 in his Texas debut.

“I think he showed his curve enough that he had guys thinking about it,” Chicago’s Frank Thomas said. “That’s two weeks in a row.”

Lee Stevens hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, and Juan Gonzalez added a two-run double to back Sele, who lowered his earned-run average to 1.29.

Texas helped Sele by turning three double plays, including a quick 6-4-3 in the sixth to thwart speedy Mike Caruso and Ray Durham.

“Scoring runs is great,” Sele said, “but that defense really gives you confidence.”

The White Sox haven’t shown much confidence yet.

“I think we went out a little flat,” catcher Chad Kreuter said. “That’s disappointing as a player. He [Sele] kept guys off balance but as a whole. We need to have better at-bats and play a little bit better. A lot better.”

Mark McLemore had a two-run single during a five-run second inning, and two more runs scored on shortstop Mike Caruso’s error. Texas also scored a run in the sixth on a throwing error by third baseman Robin Ventura.

James Baldwin gave up seven runs--five earned--five hits and six walks in five innings.

Minnesota 13, Toronto 2--Orlando Merced hit a three-run homer off his former team and tied a personal best with five RBIs at Minneapolis.

Merced, who played with Toronto last season, hit his first homer with the Twins in the second inning to give them a 3-0 lead. He added run-scoring singles in the third and seventh to help Brad Radke win his first game.

A 20-game winner in 1997, Radke gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, rebounding from his rocky 1998 debut that came in last Friday’s 9-5 loss to Kansas City.

Matt Lawton also hit a three-run homer for the Twins, who matched their home run total from the first seven games.

Shawn Green homered in his fourth consecutive game for Toronto.

Baltimore 2, Kansas City 1--Joe Carter drove home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Orioles tied a club record with five double plays at Kansas City, Mo.

Carter’s two-out single scored Roberto Alomar to lead the Orioles, who have not lost since opening day and are 7-1 for the fourth time in franchise history.

Alomar singled with one out against Jose Rosado (0-1), who relieved Pat Rapp to start the eighth inning, and moved up on Eric Davis’ single and a long fly ball.

The Royals loaded the bases against reliever Norm Charlton with none out in the eighth, but B.J. Surhoff caught Jeff King’s line drive to left field and made a strong throw to the plate to get Shane Halter.

Jimmy Key gave up one run and six hits in seven innings. Armando Benitez pitched the ninth for his second save.

Cal Ripken tied the score, 1-1, with a leadoff homer in the seventh inning, moving him past Lou Gehrig for 45th on the lifetime list with 2,721 hits. It was Baltimore’s first run in 13 innings off Rapp, who shut out the Orioles for seven innings on April 2.

Tampa Bay at Detroit--The game between the Devil Rays and Tigers was rained out and rescheduled for Aug. 29 as part of a twi-night doubleheader.