Indians Batter White Sox Bullpen Again

Ryan Garko and the Cleveland Indians love their late inning rallies, and no team has a bullpen more susceptible than the Chicago White Sox. <br/><br/>Garko hit a game-tying pinch-hit home run in the ninth

Wednesday, July 18th 2007, 7:25 am

By: News On 6

Ryan Garko and the Cleveland Indians love their late inning rallies, and no team has a bullpen more susceptible than the Chicago White Sox.

Garko hit a game-tying pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning and singled home the winning run in the 11th to give the Indians a 6-5 victory Tuesday night over the White Sox.

The Indians' 28th come-from-behind win _ and 15th in their final at-bat _ kept them one game behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central.

``I was on a team like this in college,'' said Garko, who played at Stanford. ``We always feel like we've got a chance to win.''

A night earlier, the White Sox opened up an 11-2 lead and barely held on to win, 11-10.

Credit some of that to a resilient Cleveland squad, and some to a Chicago bullpen that is 3-14 with a 7.50 ERA and 10 blown saves since May 8.

Bobby Jenks, trying to nail down his 26th save and protect a 5-3 lead, instead suffered his fifth blown save and added a new chapter to Chicago's endless summer of bullpen blunders.

``We got where we wanted to,'' Guillen said. ``We got the game to Bobby but he couldn't hold the lead.''

In other AL games on Monday, it was: Kansas City 9, Boston 3; New York 3, Toronto 2, 10 innings; Tampa Bay 8, Los Angeles 3; Detroit 1, Minnesota 0; Baltimore 8, Seattle 3; and Texas 4, Oakland 3.

Jason Michaels opened the 11th with a base hit off rookie Dewon Day (0-1) that he turned into a double by beating Jermaine Dye's throw from right field. Garko followed with a broken-bat bloop just over shortstop Juan Uribe's outstretched glove.

Michaels, who took a chance by breaking at the sound of the bat, was waved around and scored easily as the Indians poured out of the dugout and pummeled Garko on the infield dirt for the second time in five days for hitting a walk-off winner.

``That's what a winning team does,'' White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. ``They don't let anything bother them. That's why this team is where it is. That's a very good team and they always think they can win.''

Rafael Betancourt (2-0) pitched a perfect 11th for the Indians, who had 27 comeback wins last season.

Chicago starter Jon Garland had kept Chicago's bullpen door closed as long as he could by pitching six solid innings, and the White Sox were on the verge of another tight win when the Indians rallied.

Garland, who was ill with a stomach ailment on Monday, threw a season-high 122 pitches and came within a few outs of improving to 4-0 in his last four road starts.

Rangers 11, Athletics 4

Michael Young had five hits and drove in three runs, and visiting Texas handed Oakland its ninth straight loss.

Young went 5-for-5 with two doubles and a walk in the fourth five-hit game of his career. The Rangers had 15 hits in their third straight road victory.

Chad Gaudin (8-5) took the loss, allowing eight hits and a career-high six walks in six innings. Willie Eyre (3-3) got two outs in the fifth inning before Texas' go-ahead rally.

Tigers 1, Twins 0

Nate Robertson allowed three hits over seven innings to outpitch Matt Garza for visiting Detroit.

Robertson (6-6) struck out five and walked two to win for just the third time in 10 starts. Garza (1-1) allowed one unearned run and three hits in seven innings for the Twins.

Luis Castillo had two hits for Minnesota.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2, 10 innings

Robinson Cano singled home the winning run in the 10th inning for host New York after Toronto closer Jeremy Accardo balked home the tying run in a wild ninth.

Accardo's meltdown cost Roy Halladay his 11th win after he stymied the Yankees for seven innings.

Casey Janssen (2-2) took the loss and Luis Vizcaino (6-2) worked a scoreless inning for the win.

Royals 9, Red Sox 3

At Boston, Kansas City's Leo Nunez took a shutout into the fifth inning in his first career start, outpitching 15-year veteran Tim Wakefield.

Jimmy Gobble (4-1) picked up the win when Nunez, who was called up from Triple-A Omaha before the game, left with a 3-0 lead after giving up Julio Lugo's double to lead off the fifth.

Wakefield (10-9) gave up six runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Devil Rays 8, Angels 3

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Ty Wigginton went 4-for-4 for the second straight game to tie a Tampa Bay record with eight consecutive hits.

Wigginton, who had four hits during a loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday, drove in one run with a fifth-inning single off Ervin Santana (5-11) and another with a single off Chris Bootcheck in the seventh.

James Shields (8-5) allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings for Tampa Bay, which won for only the third time in 19 games.

Orioles 8, Mariners 3

Jeremy Guthrie (5-3) pitched six strong innings, and Jay Gibbons hit a three-run homer to give visiting Baltimore the lead for good.

Gibbons drove in a season-high five runs and Nick Markakis matched his career high with four hits for Baltimore.

Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (6-5) gave up eight hits and three walks in six innings. It was his first loss since June 15 against Houston.