Bichette Proves He Can Clean Up

Batting fourth was contagious for Dante Bichette, who filled in smoothly Sunday for the ailing Manny Ramirez.

Bichette had three hits in four at-bats with a home run to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4. Ramirez, the American League leader in homers (21) and batting average (.375), stayed out of uniform with fever and a sore throat.

The Red Sox didn’t say how long he’d be out, but Ramirez’s absence won’t create problems if Bichette keeps hitting well.

“I feel relaxed, comfortable,” Bichette said. “I feel right.”

He batted mostly third or fourth the last eight seasons with Colorado and Cincinnati and was upset with his part-time role early this season.

“I accepted the role and tried to perform the best I could,” Bichette said. “If I go 0 for 4 in the fourth spot people will say, ‘How bad did we miss Manny?’ So I avoided that.”

Boston General Manager Dan Duquette said Ramirez might have strep throat. Ramirez batted fourth in all 60 games before Sunday, but Bichette is hitting .330 and has three homers in his last five starts.

Boston, the AL East leader, is 8-3 in its last 11 games. Philadelphia, first in the NL East, has lost four of its last six.

Bichette’s fourth homer of the season tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth inning, after Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins homered in the first off Hideo Nomo (6-3).

Then Bichette, who went seven for 11 in the series, singled and scored the tying run during a three-run sixth when Boston took a 4-3 lead.

Trot Nixon’s run-scoring made the score 5-3 in the seventh before Philadelphia loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Eric Valent’s force-play grounder drove in Bobby Abreu, but Rod Beck struck out Johnny Estrada to end the inning.

Seattle 8, San Diego 1--A day after the Padres ended the longest winning streak in Mariner history at 15 games, John Halama (5-4) scattered seven hits in seven innings to help complete an 11-1 homestand.

At 48-13, the Mariners matched the 1939 New York Yankees for the second-best 61-game start since 1900 behind the 1912 New York Giants (50-11).

Oakland 6, San Francisco 2--Eric Chavez and Jeremy Giambi hit back-to-back homers during a three-run eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum as the Athletics won two of three in the series against their cross-bay rivals.

Barry Bonds, leading the majors with 32 home runs, was hitless with four walks in the series until he got a hit in the seventh inning off Mark Mulder (8-3), who gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Milwaukee 8, Detroit 3--Jeromy Burnitz drove in five runs with two homers and right-hander Jamey Wright came off the disabled list to get the win as the Brewers avoided a sweep in their first visit to Comerica Park.

Burnitz hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run shot in the fifth. Wright (5-4) gave up three runs--two earned--and four hits in five innings.

Cincinnati 9, Cleveland 3--Rookie Chris Reitsma shut down the Indians for 7 2/3 innings at Jacobs Field to get his first win in 10 starts, limiting them to one run while yielding nine hits.

Sean Casey and Pokey Reese drove in two runs apiece, and Michael Tucker had three hits as the Reds won two of three in the series.

Chicago White Sox 3, Chicago Cubs 1--The breaks went to the White Sox this time. And now they have bragging rights to the city--for the next month, anyway.

Chris Singleton hit a solo homer and Sandy Alomar Jr. scored on a botched sacrifice bunt at Comiskey Park as the White Sox clinched their first Crosstown Series of the season. The White Sox have won 13 of their last 16 games.

New York Mets 10, Tampa Bay 0--Kevin Appier gave up four hits in seven innings and Mark Johnson and Joe McEwing hit two-run homers at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Appier (4-5) limited the Devil Rays to four hits--one after the third inning--before being replaced by Dennis Cook. He struck out nine to help the Mets avoid being swept by the team with the worst record in the majors.

Tampa Bay was shut out for the American League-leading sixth time.

Florida 7, Toronto 1--Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run double at Toronto as the Marlins continued their dominance in interleague play.

Derek Lee had a two-run triple for the Marlins, whose 41-28 interleague record is the second-best behind Cleveland’s 42-28.

Florida, 11-4 against Toronto, won consecutive series for the first time since winning three straight series in mid-May.

Arizona 12, Kansas City 5--Luis Gonzalez and Erubiel Durazo hit three-runs homers at Kansas City and the Diamondbacks tied a club record with an eight-run inning.

Arizona, which matched its season high by opening a four-game lead in the NL West, took a 12-1 lead with an eight-run fourth inning.

Gonzalez’s 26th homer left him six behind San Francisco’s Barry Bonds, the major league leader.

Houston 6, Texas 5--Pinch-hitter Orlando Merced brought the Astros back from a 4-3 deficit with a three-run homer off Jeff Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth at Arlington, Texas.

Jay Powell (2-1) got the win and Mike Jackson got his third save. He struck out Alex Rodriguez to end the game.

Baltimore 3, Montreal 2--Jason Johnson came without an out of his first complete game in the majors and the Orioles scored all their runs on two-out singles at Camden Yards. Johnson (6-3), making his 60th major league start, took a four-hitter into the ninth inning, but was removed after yielding a run.