White Sox Continue to Roll

Chuck Knoblauch stood motionless, hands on his hips and staring straight ahead. Alone in his misery on the edge of the infield.

Three more throwing errors. The worst game in the field ever for the former Gold Glove winner, who recently said he might retire if his problem persisted.

So troublesome that Yankee Manager Joe Torre took out his scatter-armed second baseman and sent him home early Thursday night in New York’s 12-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox at New York.

“He’s hurting and needs our help,” Torre said. “We’re concerned about his welfare. He felt bad that he was hurting the ballclub. He’s a very proud guy. He feels he’s not doing a good job.”

Knoblauch’s misplays led to two runs in the matchup between the teams with the American League’s best records.

Paul Konerko and Brook Fordyce each had three runs batted in as Chicago, coming off a three-game sweep at Cleveland, won for the 13th time in 15 games.

Magglio Ordonez added a two-run homer.

The White Sox, who have the league’s top mark at 41-24, lead the AL Central by 5 1/2 games--their biggest edge since the end of the 1993 season.

Mike Sirotka (6-5) won despite giving up 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Baltimore 10, Texas 1--Albert Belle hit a grand slam for the second consecutive game and also hit a solo shot at Baltimore as the Orioles stretched their winning streak to five.

Texas has lost eight in a row, its longest skid since a 10-game slide in July 1995. David Segui had two hits for the Rangers, who have dropped six in a row and 10 of 12 on the road.

Belle homered leading off the second for a 1-0 lead, hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh that made the score 4-1 and capped a six-run eighth with his 13th career slam.

Seattle 12, Minnesota 5--Mike Cameron set a career high with four hits, tied his major league-best with five RBIs and hit his first career grand slam at Minneapolis.

Rob Ramsey, who relieved injured starter Paul Abbott, pitched 2 2/3 innings for his first major league victory, and Rickey Henderson had three singles, scored three runs and reached base four times for Seattle.