Vindicator Logo

AL CENTRAL Stewart, Chicago trounce Indians

Sunday, April 20, 2003


The White Sox pitcher earned his first major league victory.
CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox gave Josh Stewart six first-inning runs to work with. Two hours later, they were giving him a beer shower to celebrate his first major league win.
"The guys put up a six spot and that was big. I just wanted to pitch well enough to not allow a big inning," Stewart said Saturday after the White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 12-3.
"Now I can go home and celebrate," added Stewart, a rookie who pitched last season in Double-A.
D'Angelo Jimenez had two of his four hits in the opening inning when the White Sox scored six unearned runs, all with two outs. Chicago finished with 16 hits.
Magglio Ordonez homered in the fourth and extended his hitting streak to 15 games, longest in the AL this season. And Carlos Lee hit a three-run homer in the eighth to close the scoring for Chicago.
Bad defense
Cleveland helped the White Sox all day with sloppy fielding, misjudging balls and committing four errors, including two on overthrows by right fielder Karim Garcia.
"It's the first time we've really broken down like that defensively. It's something that can't happen," Indians manager Eric Wedge said.
"The wind was tough, but that's not what the problem was today. We just misjudged some balls and made some poor decisions."
In the first, Cleveland first baseman Travis Hafner made an off-line throw to second on Tony Graffanino's fielder's choice grounder, an error that put runners at first and second against Brian Anderson (2-2).
Anderson retired Frank Thomas and Ordonez, but Garcia let Paul Konerko's fly ball fall in for an RBI single and the White Sox took off.
"I hesitated and made a mental mistake. I'm not going to blame the wind," Garcia said, adding that he misread which way the ball was blowing on Konerko's hit.
After another run-scoring single by Lee, Indians center fielder Milton Bradley misjudged Joe Crede's liner that went over his head for a two-run double.
Miguel Olivo reached on an infield single to load the bases when Anderson stumbled going after his roller up the third base line. Jimenez followed with two-run single for his second hit of the inning.
"I got it started, the guys kept on going and I got the chance to hit again," Jimenez said.
Tough outing
Anderson went five innings and gave up 11 hits but only two of the nine runs against him were earned.
"It was just difficult from every standpoint. They hit some balls hard and some not so hard at all that fell in," Anderson said. "That's the way it goes. There were a lot of strange things you don't see all crammed into one game."
Stewart (1-1) started slowly, allowing a leadoff double to Bradley and walk to Brandon Phillips in the first before escaping the jam. His throwing error and Hafner's RBI double made it 6-1 in the second.
He allowed five hits and two runs in six innings as the White Sox won for the 11th time in 14 games.
"I made it a little harder on myself than it should have been," said Stewart, who got the No. 5 starter's role because of an injury in spring training to Danny Wright. "When I got out of the first, it was a big boost to me and the offense."
Ordonez hit his third homer in the fourth and Chicago tacked on another run on Garcia's wild throw after a single by Jimenez in the fifth.
Cleveland's Casey Blake hit a solo homer in sixth and Hafner added one in the ninth.
CLEVELANDCHICAGO
abrhbiabrhbi
Brdley cf4020DJmnz 2b5143
BPhllps 2b3000Grffnno ss5100
Burks dh4000Thmas dh5120
Spncer lf3000MOrdz rf4111
Selby lf1000Dubach rf0100
KGarca rf4010Knerko 1b5121
Laker c4100Lee lf4224
Blake 3b4111Crede 3b5122
Hafner 1b3122Rwand cf2200
JMcDld ss4000Olivo c4130
Paul c0000
Totals34363Totals39121611
Cleveland010001001--3
Chicago60111003x--12
E--KGarcia 2 (3), THafner (3), BriAnderson (1), Stewart (1). DP--Cleveland 2. LOB--Cleveland 7, Chicago 7. 2B--Bradley (9), THafner (4), Thomas (3), Konerko (2), Crede (4), Olivo (2). HR--Blake (1), THafner (2), MOrdonez (3), Lee (3).
IPHRERBBSO
Cleveland
BriAnderson L,2-25119211
Mulholland230002
Myette123310
Chicago
Stewart W,1-1652133
Glover100000
Wunsch100002
Koch111101
HBP--by BriAnderson (Rowand 2). Balk--BriAnderson. Umpires--Home, Mike Everitt; First, Hunter Wendelstedt; Second, Larry Young; Third, Charlie Reliford. T--2:33. A--18,907.