Defeating Royals Is No Problem for White Sox

Fans were too busy trying to keep warm to cause any trouble Wednesday night at Chicago as the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3.

One night after a fan ran out of the stands and tried to tackle umpire Laz Diaz, the focus was back on baseball at U.S. Cellular Field.

The White Sox won it in the bottom of the ninth inning. After Joe Crede led off with a single over third baseman Joe Randa, Miguel Olivo laid down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. But Jason Grimsley threw the ball away, giving the White Sox runners at second and third.

Royal Manager Tony Pena put on a shift, replacing right fielder Dee Brown with Mendy Lopez and giving Kansas City five infielders. The Royals then intentionally walked D’Angelo Jimenez to load the bases.

Jose Valentin popped out, but Frank Thomas lined a ball to right field. Pinch-runner Tony Graffanino probably wouldn’t have been able to score if the Royals had someone in right field, but the ball was barely in the infield when Graffanino was crossing the plate.

There was a noticeable increase in security, with 16 guards ringing the field during the half-inning breaks. Guards also stood near both dugouts, and others roamed the stands.

But with a temperature of 50 -- 34 degrees colder than Tuesday night -- and a blustery wind making it feel even chillier, there were only about 7,000 fans at the park.

Oakland 4, Seattle 1 -- Tim Hudson outpitched Freddy Garcia at Oakland and the Athletics ended a six-game losing streak.

Eric Chavez gave Hudson (2-1) all the offense he needed with a two-run home run in the first inning. Erubiel Durazo hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Giovanni Carrara.

Minnesota 4, Detroit 2 -- Corey Koskie’s two-run double in the fourth inning gave the Twins a 4-0 lead at Minneapolis. The Twins beat the Tigers for the 14th straight time. The Tigers hadn’t lost that many consecutive games to one opponent in their 103-year history. They lost 13 straight to the Cleveland Indians from May 14, 1996, to May 3, 1997.

Baltimore 4, Cleveland 3 -- Melvin Mora led off the top of the ninth inning with his first home run of the season to give the Orioles the win. Mora, batting .118, hit a 2-and-1 pitch from Danys Baez 400 feet to left-center. Baez (0-1) had blown a 3-2 lead in the eighth by walking in the tying run.

Boston 6, Tampa Bay 4 -- David Ortiz hit a game-tying, two-run single and Jeremy Giambi’s RBI double gave the Red Sox the lead as they scored four runs in the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Rocco Baldelli’s seventh-inning RBI single extended his hitting streak to a club rookie-record 13 games for the Devil Rays.

Toronto 7, New York 6 -- Dave Berg’s RBI double broke a sixth-inning tie at Yankee Stadium and the Blue Jays ended a six-game losing streak and beat the Yankees for the first time in six meetings this season.