White Sox’s Thomas the Designated Hero

Since the Chicago White Sox played the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday, no designated hitters were allowed. So Frank Thomas dusted off his glove and was back at first base.

Things worked out well.

After he hit a go-ahead single in the top of the 12th inning to start a two-run rally, Thomas snared Sammy Sosa’s liner in the bottom of the inning and stepped on first to double off Mark Grace as the White Sox beat the Cubs, 4-2.

Third baseman Herbert Perry, who secured the victory in the bottom of the 11th by throwing out Ricky Gutierrez from his knees, added an RBI double in the 12th as the White Sox won for the 24th time in 31 games.

Once again, they showed why they have the best record in the majors. They’ve done it with solid pitching, plenty of hitting and, on occasions like Friday, with defense.

“It was three bases easy,” Sosa said of his liner. “He was right there. He got me.”

Thomas said when he saw the ball leave Sosa’s bat, he nearly moved too soon. “Lucky I didn’t jump more off the bat or it would have been a double down the line,” Thomas said.

Before the game, a Cub fan waved a sign and heckled Thomas with chants of “Big Skirt, Big Skirt,” a derisive takeoff on his nickname “The Big Hurt.”

“It was crazy out there,” said Thomas, who was 0 for five before his hit in the 12th. “The Cubbie fans rode me the whole game. It was a terrible game for me up until the last inning.”

Atlanta 5, Boston 3--Tom Glavine gave up six singles, three by Jose Offerman, in 7 2/3 innings at Boston, and Andres Galarraga hit his 20th homer in a five-run second for Braves.

Glavine (9-5) won his second start in a row after going 0-4 in his previous seven.

Kerry Ligtenberg got four out for his seventh save in eight chances.

Texas 5, San Diego 4--David Segui’s two-out run-scoring single in the 10th inning lifted the Rangers at Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th. Pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto led off with a double off Matt Whiteside (2-3).

After Luis Alicea walked, San Diego shortstop Kevin Nicholson dropped a throw from second baseman Bret Boone for an error on an attempted forceout at second on Rusty Greer’s grounder.

The Padres got two outs when Nicholson threw to the plate to force out Catalanotto on Scarborough Green’s grounder, and Ivan Rodriguez popped to second.

But Segui’s single to right drove in Alicea for the Rangers’ first extra-inning victory in five tries.

Tampa Bay 8, Florida 3--Fred McGriff hit two solo home runs against Ryan Dempster, and Bubba Trammell drove in three runs at Miami as the Devil Rays improved to 6-4 in interleague play.

Dempster (9-5), the Marlins’ representative in Tuesday’s All-Star game, struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings.

The Devil Rays scored three times with two outs in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. Trammell hit an RBI triple and Vinny Castilla and Felix Martinez singled home runs.

Montreal 10, Toronto 5--Jose Vidro hit his second straight RBI double with two out in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie at Montreal as the Expos won their third in a row.

Tied at 5, Terry Jones hit a one-out single off Paul Quantrill (0-5) in the seventh. Reliever Pedro Borbon retired Wilton Guerrero on a fly ball before Vidro hit a one-hop double off the left-field wall.

Raul Mondesi hit a two-run homer in the Toronto first off Julio Santana and had an RBI grounder in the seventh.

Cincinnati 2, Cleveland 1--Denny Neagle pitched eight shutout innings at Cincinnati and Chris Stynes homered for the third game in a row.

Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.

With two on and two out in the ninth, pinch-hitter Russell Branyan doubled to the left-field corner to cut it to 2-1. But Travis Fryman, the potential tying run, was easily thrown out by shortstop Barry Larkin’s relay to end the game.

Pittsburgh 8, Minnesota 6--Pat Meares hit a go-ahead home run against his former team and the Pirates rallied from four runs down to beat Twins at Pittsburgh.

It was the Twins’ sixth consecutive loss.

Milwaukee 4, Detroit 3--Jeromy Burnitz homered and drove in three runs as the Brewers beat the Tigers in Detroit Manager Phil Garner’s return to Milwaukee.

Burnitz also preserved the victory by making a diving catch on Brad Ausmus’ liner to right field for the final out with a runner on first base.

Houston 9, Kansas City 5--Scott Elarton won his fourth consecutive decision and the Astros stopped their six-game home losing streak by defeating the Royals.

Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Mitch Meluskey homered as Houston ended its longest home losing skid since a seven-game slide in 1995.

Baltimore 2, Philadelphia 1--Mike Mussina struck out 10 over eight innings and outpitched Curt Schilling at Philadelphia. Mussina (6-7) gave up seven hits for his first win since June 16. Schilling (4-5) pitched his second complete game and also gave up seven hits.

Oakland 5, Arizona 4--Ryan Christenson homered in the bottom of the 11th inning, giving the Athletics a victory at Oakland. Jeff Tam (3-2) pitched a scoreless inning to pick up the victory.