It’s Home Run Derby for White Sox, Tigers

Comiskey Park proved to be the friendly confines in Chicago for at least one day.

Magglio Ordonez and Sandy Alomar each homered twice as the White Sox and Tigers combined for a major league-record tying 12 home runs in Chicago’s 17-9 victory over Detroit on Tuesday night.

Both teams hit six home runs in the game as they tied the record they set together on May 28, 1995 in Detroit.

Kenny Lofton and Jose Valentin also homered for the White Sox, who have scored 77 runs in winning seven of nine games against the Tigers this season.

“If you made good contact in the air the ball was probably going to go out,” Alomar said.

Dmitri Young homered twice for Detroit. Robert Fick, George Lombard, Wendell Magee and Damion Easley also homered.

“It was like Colorado out there,” Young said. “Everybody put it way in the air. We lost, but it was still uplifting to see our bats like that.”

Ordonez, who lost out in his bid to become the American League’s 30th All-Star earlier in the day, hit a solo homer in the first inning against Adam Bernero (2-4) and a grand slam off Jose Paniagua in Chicago’s seven-run eighth inning.

Trailing, 4-3, the White Sox scored four runs off Bernero in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

New York 10, Cleveland 5--Raul Mondesi hit an RBI single and scored twice in his Yankee debut, and New York overcame a record-setting homer by Jim Thome to beat the Indians at New York. Thome became the first Indian player to homer in six consecutive games, launching a long drive off Roger Clemens, who left after five innings because of leg cramps.

Batting fifth, Mondesi went one for two and reached base all four times he batted. He walked, was hit by a pitch, got aboard on an error and had an RBI single in the seventh. Jorge Posada’s grand slam, the fourth of his career, capped a seven-run seventh.

Boston 2-6, Toronto 1-4--Spot starters Tim Wakefield and Sunny Kim gave Boston a boost in both games as the Red Sox swept the Blue Jays at Boston. Kim pitched six scoreless innings in the nightcap and but ran into trouble in the seventh before the Red Sox held on. Wakefield also pitched six shutout innings and Lou Merloni hit a two-run triple in the seventh as Boston came from behind to win the opener.

Oakland 4, Minnesota 3--Olmedo Saenz hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the ninth inning to help the A’s win at Oakland. Eric Chavez doubled off Eddie Guardado (1-2) to start the A’s ninth. Jermaine Dye struck out but then Saenz, pinch-hitting for John Mabry, homered on an 0-and-2 pitch.

Kansas City 7, Seattle 5--Mike Sweeney hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth against Kazuhiro Sasaki and Raul Ibanez connected two batters later for his second of the game as the Royals won at Seattle. Sasaki (2-3) has given up only five earned runs all season, four in his last two outings. Paul Byrd (11-5) gave up five runs in eight innings to get the win.

Texas 3, Tampa Bay 1--Rafael Palmeiro hit his 465th homer, tying him with Dave Winfield for 22nd place, and Kenny Rogers gave up three hits and one run over seven innings as the Rangers won at Arlington, Texas.

Juan Gonzalez homered for Texas, which ended a four-game losing streak.