Arrojo Salvages One for Red Sox

Rolando Arrojo and the Boston Red Sox made the most of their brief trip to the Bronx.

Arrojo pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning, Jose Offerman and Manny Alexander homered and the Red Sox salvaged the final game of an unusual four-game series, defeating the New York Yankees, 4-0, Monday night.

The Yankees swept a three-game set during the weekend in Boston. Not since July 8-9, 1959, had these longtime rivals played at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium on consecutive days--a rainout on June 12 caused this makeup.

“Your starting pitching sets the tone,” Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams said. “It was big for us because we knew who we were facing.”

The Red Sox trail the Yankees by eight games in the AL East, but closed within three games of Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Boston barely had time to unpack for this visit. Players hardly touched their luggage in the locker room, leaving bags intact as they prepared to go to Cleveland for a three-game series starting tonight.

Chicago 10, Detroit 3--Frank Thomas hit a grand slam and drove in five runs at Chicago, increasing his RBI total to a career-high 139. He has 42 home runs.

Chicago, which has won four of five, increased its AL Central lead to eight games over idle Cleveland. Detroit lost its sixth in a row.

Oakland 5, Tampa Bay 1--Kevin Appier pitched eight strong innings and Ben Grieve drove in the go-ahead run in a four-run eighth as the Athletics defeated the Devil Rays at Oakland.

The A’s moved within 1 1/2 games of wild-card leader Cleveland. But the attendance was only 9,109--the lowest since May 18, when the A’s drew 8,746 against Minnesota.

Kansas City 6, Seattle 3--Johnny Damon went five for five with a homer, two doubles and two RBIs to lead the Royals at Seattle, cutting the Mariners’ AL West lead to one game over Oakland, their smallest margin since Aug. 4. Seattle is 9-19 since taking a seven-game lead on Aug. 11.