Belle Rings True Again for the White Sox

James Baldwin has never seen anything like Albert Belle’s home-run binge. Doesn’t know if he ever will again.

“The only thing you can do is ride his coattails,” the Chicago right-hander said Tuesday night after pitching the White Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Chicago.

Belle provided the power again, as he has been doing consistently since the all-star break. He hit his 32nd homer of the season, tied a major league record with 15 in the month of July, and now has 14 homers in his last 20 games.

“He’s as hot as you can be,” White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel said after Belle’s two-run homer to right-center put Chicago ahead, 4-0, in the fifth.

“He’s staying on the ball a lot longer,” Manuel said. “A lot of times power hitters get pull conscious. When you hit them out of any part of the park and hit them there consistently, that’s a true power hitter.”

Belle now shares the record for homers in July with four other players, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Joe Adcock, and most recently Juan Gonzalez in 1996.

Belle’s homer followed a walk to Frank Thomas by Rolando Arrojo (11-7), and Chicago ended Tampa Bay’s best-ever five-game winning streak.

Arrojo gave up seven hits and walked a career-high seven.

“He went seven innings and gave up three earned runs, that’s struggling for him,” Devil Ray Manager Larry Rothschild said of Arrojo, his all-star right-hander.

“It didn’t look like he was missing by much. He had good stuff, there’s very little he has to fix. I think he’ll get it back quickly.”

Chicago scored twice in the second on a walk to Robin Ventura, an RBI double by Greg Norton and an error by Devil Ray second baseman Miguel Cairo, who dropped a throw from shortstop Kevin Stocker.

Baldwin (6-4) won for the fourth time in five decisions, giving up four hits and losing his shutout in the seventh on Wade Boggs’ double and Quinton McCracken’s run-scoring single. He faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings, giving up two singles to Randy Winn, who was erased in a double play and thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double.

“We wish we could start the season over but we can’t,” Baldwin said. “We’re just trying to have some fun.”

Bill Simas pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.

Cleveland 4, Seattle 3--Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer off Randy Johnson in what may have been Johnson’s final start for the Mariners as the Indians won at Seattle.

David Bell also homered for the Indians, who defeated the Mariners for the fifth time in six games.

Johnson (9-10), rumored to be headed to the Indians before the Friday night trade deadline, pitched his sixth complete game of the season and received a standing ovation after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth. He gave up four runs and four hits, struck out 12 and matched a season-high with six walks.

Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr., who leads the AL with 40 homers, went one for four with an infield single. He hasn’t homered in five games.

Toronto 8, Texas 3--Roger Clemens won his eighth consecutive decision and Jose Canseco hit a two-run double at Toronto as the Blue Jays defeated the Rangers and handed them their fourth loss in a row.

Clemens (13-6) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. The four-time Cy Young Award winner has given up seven hits or fewer in 12 of his last 13 starts.

Shannon Stewart hit a two-run, inside-the-park homer in the eighth to give the Blue Jays an 8-3 lead. It was Toronto’s first inside-the-park homer since Paul Molitor hit one against Texas in 1995.

Baltimore 6, Detroit 5--Eric Davis hit a three-run homer as the Orioles overcame a five-run deficit at Detroit.

Lenny Webster also homered for the Orioles, who broke a two-game losing streak to improve to 15-3 since the all-star break.

Gabe Alvarez hit his first career grand slam for the Tigers.

Rookie Sidney Ponson (4-6) gave up five runs in the first, but then pitched five scoreless innings for Baltimore. He gave up seven hits, struck out two and walked one.

Davis, who went two for four with three RBIs, has hit in 15 consecutive games. He is 31 for 76 (.408) with seven home runs and 25 RBIs since the break.

Minnesota 3, Kansas City 0--Brad Radke pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings at Kansas City, Mo., and Todd Walker tied a Twins’ record with his ninth hit in a row.

Radke (10-8) gave up four hits, struck out two and walked one. He didn’t allow a runner past first base until Mike Sweeney doubled with two out in the eighth.

Walker hit an RBI single in the second inning to tie the team record for consecutive hits set in 1967 by Tony Oliva and matched in 1985 by Mickey Hatcher.

Walker also matched the Twins’ record of 11 consecutive plate appearances without an out, held by Rod Carew (1967) and Chuck Knoblauch (1996).