Red Sox Sink Mariners in New Skipper’s Debut

Joe Kerrigan was too wrapped up in his managing debut to get excited. Dante Bichette was too excited to waste a chance to revive his season.

Bichette’s three-run homer in the eighth inning Thursday night lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Boston after Jimy Williams was fired earlier in the day.

“I was more nervous actually walking out with the lineup card than during the game,” said Kerrigan, the Red Sox’ pitching coach since 1997. The victory “feels very special, but you can’t let yourself think about it during the game.”

The managerial change means Bichette, a critic of Williams’ tendency to juggle lineups, should be a fixture in the fifth spot. He did an excellent job there, going two for four with his 11th homer of the season.

“I was really excited” before the game, Bichette said. “I felt relieved that I know what I’ve got to get done now.”

Bichette had been in an 11-for-50 slump that dropped his average to .295.

Thursday’s homer on Aaron Sele’s first pitch to him in the eighth may have been his most important with Boston.

“It’s the biggest hit I’ve gotten for this club, especially this year,” he said. “We needed it.”

The victory was the Red Sox’ second in eight games and kept them five games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East and two behind the Oakland Athletics in the wild-card race.

Cleveland 6, Minnesota 1--Jim Thome, whose $7.5-million contract option for next season was picked up by the Indians before the game, hit his American League-leading 41st and 42nd homers to help the Indians complete a three-game sweep at Cleveland.

Thome hit two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings against rookie Adam Johnson (1-2) as the Indians opened a season-high 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Twins in the American League Central.

New York 12, Tampa Bay 5--Paul O’Neill hit a grand slam and David Justice added a three-run homer at New York as the Yankees completed another sweep of the Devil Rays.

The Yankees have swept the Devil Rays in seven of the 16 series between the teams since the Devil Rays began play in 1998, including the first two at Yankee Stadium this season.

Oakland 8, Toronto 4--Cory Lidle won his fourth consecutive start and Miguel Tejada hit his 24th homer to lead the Athletics at Toronto.

Johnny Damon went three for five and scored three runs for the Athletics, who won the final game of the three-game series after losing the first two. The A’s came to Toronto with an 11-game winning streak.

“I figure if I go, the team will go,” said Damon, hitting .381 in August. “I put a lot of responsibility on myself to help this team win.”

Tejada, who hit a franchise-record 30 home runs as a shortstop last season, gave Oakland a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Chicago 7, Texas 5--Jose Canseco singled home the lead run in the seventh inning and Herbert Perry hit two solo homers to help the White Sox complete a three-game sweep at Chicago.

It was the White Sox’ first sweep of the Rangers since 1993, and it pushed the White Sox over .500 for the first time since July 17. They had lost their last nine times after reaching the break-even point.

Rafael Palmeiro had three hits, including his 30th homer, and three runs batted in for the Rangers.

Kansas City 9, Baltimore 2--Paul Byrd pitched seven shutout innings to win his fifth consecutive start and Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer to help the Royals avoid a three-game sweep at Baltimore.

Carlos Beltran and Gregg Zaun also homered for the Royals, who turned a scoreless duel into a rout by scoring three runs apiece in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Cal Ripken had three hits and an RBI for the Orioles, giving him 10 hits and nine RBIs in his last five games. Ripken has hit safely in 41 of 45 games to lift his batting average to a season-high .276.