Belle Is a Big Hit as White Sox Win

Once again, Albert Belle let his bat do all of his talking.

The Chicago slugger hit his 34th homer of the season, and the White Sox bullpen limited the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to three hits in the last six innings of an 8-6 victory Tuesday night.

Belle’s home run, a solo shot in the sixth inning off Esteban Yan, was his 16th in 25 games since the all-star break. Robert Machado and Greg Norton also homered for Chicago.

The most talked about “hit” of the night, though, came in the eighth inning when Yan’s first pitch to Belle struck the White Sox star in the upper left arm.

That sparked an argument that led to the ejection of catcher Mike DiFelice, but drew no reaction from Belle--during or after the game when he did not speak to reporters.

“He didn’t say one thing about it,” Chicago Manager Jerry Manuel said. “The best thing to do is just go to first base and get ready to play.”

Plate umpire Ed Hickox warned the Tampa Bay pitcher and ejected DiFelice when the catcher protested.

“I was surprised,” Yan said of the warning. “The game’s on the line, 7-5. I’ve got a chance to win. I didn’t try to hit nobody.”

The Devil Rays reliever added that Belle’s reaction supported his contention that the incident was not intentional.

“He didn’t look at me,” Yan said. “He knew I didn’t throw at him.”

Mike Kelly hit two home runs for Tampa Bay, but the Devil Rays did not have a hit in between his two-run homer in the third and his solo shot in the eighth.

Machado, a rookie catcher recalled from triple-A Calgary on Sunday, made up for an error that cost the White Sox a run with a three-run homer off Tony Saunders (3-10).

NEXT SERIES FOR ANGELS

WHO: Chicago White Sox

WHERE: at Chicago

WHEN: Friday, 5 p.m.; Saturday, 4 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.