Wells Earns First Victory in a Month

David Wells isn’t going to let anything bother him right now. Not his injury, not the team’s poor start and not the scouts checking him out for possible deals.

Wells pitched 5 2/3 innings at Chicago for his first victory in nearly a month as the White Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers, 5-3, Saturday night.

“I can’t worry about who’s out there,” Wells said, referring to the dozen or so scouts in attendance. “I’ve got a job to do and who’s there doesn’t concern me.”

Wells (4-5), rumored to be on the trading block, had been bothered by a left groin strain and made his first start since May 23. He gave up three runs on eight hits with a walk and no strikeouts. His last victory was May 6 at Texas. He was 0-2 with a 7.52 earned-run average in three previous starts.

“I felt good. No problems,” Wells said. “Five good innings, one bad. It was nice to be out there.”

The Tigers didn’t wait for Wells to get warm before testing his physical condition. Detroit leadoff hitter Jose Macias bunted the first pitch of the game down the first-base line, but Wells was ready and whirled the ball, beating Macias by a step.

“They’re gonna challenge whenever they feel there’s weakness,” Wells said. “Rightfully so.”

With his team ahead, 5-0, and shutting the Tigers down for five innings, Wells gave up three runs in the sixth.

Wendell Magee hit a solo home run and Tony Clark hit his seventh home run bringing Detroit within 5-3. Wells then walked Dean Palmer and Manager Jerry Manuel called on reliever Sean Lowe.

“I’m always sorry to come out, but I am not surprised,” Wells said. “We’re not going to push it.”

Texas 3, Minnesota 2--Ruben Sierra hit an RBI single with two out in the 10th inning, driving in Alex Rodriguez at Arlington, Texas, as the Rangers ended a losing streak at three games.

The Twins missed a chance to improve to 36-17 for the first time in team history, and go 19 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 11, 1992.

Seattle 7, Tampa Bay 4--Carlos Guillen singled in two runs in a five-run first inning at Seattle as the Mariners matched a franchise record with their 10th consecutive victory.

The Mariners (42-12) are 30 games over .500 and have a 16-game lead in the AL West--only one-third of the way through the season. Only two teams, the 1939 New York Yankees and the 1912 New York Giants (both 43-11), had better starts than Seattle after 54 games.

New York 9, Cleveland 4--Jorge Posada homered twice and drove in five runs and David Justice added two solo home runs for the Yankees at New York.

What was billed to be a pitchers’ duel between Roger Clemens and Bartolo Colon (4-6) turned into a power show with the teams combining for seven home runs.

Boston 2, Toronto 1--Carl Everett hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning at Toronto, helping the Red Sox win their fourth in a row.

Baltimore 7, Oakland 0--Josh Towers (2-1) threw seven scoreless innings at Oakland in his second major league start.