Thomas Puts Big Hurt on the A’s in 7-3 Win

Frank Thomas wanted to put his season of discontent behind him. He’s off to a good start.

Thomas had three hits, including a three-run homer, and the Chicago White Sox won their fourth consecutive game by defeating the Oakland Athletics, 7-3, Saturday at Oakland.

Mike Sirotka (1-1), who gave up a career-high four home runs in Chicago’s season-opening 10-4 loss at Texas, kept Oakland batters in the park while giving up six hits and three runs--one earned--in 5 1/3 innings.

“I’m just trying to handle my business,” said Thomas, who endured personal problems at home and a turbulent season on the field last year. “I’ve always been able to focus when I wanted to and I’ve been able to get my focus back again.”

Despite batting over .300 for the eighth time in nine seasons last year, he was coming off a disappointing year. Thomas was bothered by a painful ankle injury that ended his season in early September and eventually required surgery. Thomas appeared in a career-low 135 games and did not rank among the AL’s top 10 in a major offensive category for the first time in his career.

The White Sox won even though shortstop Jose Valentin committed four errors.

Toronto 4, Texas 0--David Wells pitched a nine-hitter for the first complete-game shutout in the majors this year as the Blue Jays beat the Rangers at Arlington, Texas, to end Kenny Rogers’ 19-game home winning streak.

Rogers’ streak was the third-longest in major league history, dating to June 28, 1997, for the New York Yankees. He also pitched for Oakland and the Mets in the streak before winning No. 19 on Monday for the Rangers.

Wells gave up eight hits and one walk. He struck out five in his 10th career shutout.

Rogers is tied with Frank Viola for the third-longest home winning streak in major league history behind Ray Kramer (23 from 1926-27 with Pittsburgh) and Lefty Grove (20 from 1938-41 with Boston).

Cleveland 6, Tampa Bay 4--Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome hit the 199th home runs of their careers five pitches apart at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The sluggers remained tied for sixth on Cleveland’s career list, connecting off right-hander Steve Trachsel with two out in the fifth inning to give the Indians a 6-1 lead.

New York 3, Seattle 2--Paul O’Neill’s RBI double in the ninth inning broke a tie and gave the Yankees a win at Seattle.

With two out in the ninth, Derek Jeter singled off Jose Mesa and stole second. O’Neill then hit a line drive to right-center to score Jeter and give the Yankees the lead.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 2--Carlos Beltran broke out of a slump by driving in two runs and Johnny Damon scored twice and drove in a run at Kansas City, as the Royals won their fourth in a row.

Baltimore 2, Detroit 1--Delino DeShields singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th at Baltimore as the Orioles stretched their winning streak to four.

Detroit starter Hideo Nomo yielded four hits and two walks in seven shutout innings. He struck out five and allowed only one runner past second base.