ChiSox, Ventura Zap Indians 6-4

Dave Burba was a little confused by Albert Belle's fiery reaction to a brushback pitch that buzzed past his nose on Saturday.

Forgive Burba. He's still new around here.

The Cleveland right-hander made no apologies for the pitch that triggered a tense standoff between the slugger and his former team as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-4 on Saturday.

"If he's got a problem with me throwing the ball inside," Burba said, "then he's got to get a new job."

Robin Ventura broke the tension with a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth. It gave the second-place White Sox their second consecutive win over AL Central-leading Cleveland, struggling to wrap up a fourth consecutive division title. The Indians' magic number remained six.

After Paul Shuey (4-2) allowed a single by Ray Durham and intentionally walked Belle, Ventura lined a 2-2 pitch from left-hander Paul Assenmacher just over the wall in right for his 20th homer to give Chicago a 6-3 lead.

"I hit it to the right part of the park," Ventura said.

The confrontation between Belle and Burba nearly tripped tempers between the rivals.

With the game tied at 3 in the sixth, Burba set up Belle with fastballs and sliders away for a 1-2 count before throwing a high and tight fastball. Plate umpire Ted Hendry ruled it a foul ball. Belle -- who glared at reporters after the game but didn't talk to them -- told a White Sox official who asked not to be named that the ball touched his nose.

"It grazed his nose and hit his helmet," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel agreed.

If the ball hit Belle, ten why did the slugger stand in the batter's box screaming and motioning at Burba instead of going to first base?

"I guess Albert didn't want to go to first," Manuel said. "He said he wanted to bat."

Extra security and police on hand for Belle's visit raced down the aisles toward the field in case of a melee, but no one left the dugouts or the stands.

"He didn't have any reason to charge me. I threw a ball inside, and that's all there is to it," said Burba, who is 6-foot-4, 240 pounds. "I wasn't trying to hit him. I'm trying to get him out. I'm trying to throw the ball up under his hands, and he didn't even move. If he moves out of the way, it's no big deal.

"He made a big deal out of it. So what. ... If he wanted to come out and talk to me, or charge me, then I was there."

Burba said he wasn't throwing at Belle. Manuel concurred, saying, "Not at all."

Belle, who has 45 homers and leads the majors with 27 since the All-Star break, was restrained by Hendry, who warned both benches. Belle stayed in the batter's box -- digging in, pointing to the plate and taking practice swings.

"I guess he was just saying, `Throw it over the plate. This is where the plate is,' or whatever," Burba said.

Belle lined out to left field on the next pitch as the fans renewed their derisive chants. Belle was 1-for-2 with two walks and remained stuck on 999 career RBI.

Burba, in his first year with the Indians and never a teammate of Belle's, stood on the mound and raised his arms while the slugger was taunting him. Belle was still glaring at Burba and barking at him as he walked back to the dugout.

"He was looking at me the whole way," Burba said. "Whatever."

Omar Vizquel, who witnessed many of Belle's outbursts as a teammate, wasn't surprised. But he never thought Belle would charge the mound.

"He just likes to make a lot of noise," Vizquel said.

Frank Thomas hit his 27th homer for Chicago, and Travis Fryman hit his 26th for the Indians. Manny Ramirez snapped an 0-for-21 slump with his 37th homer, a solo shot off Bill Simas in the eighth that cut it to 6-4.

After Brian Giles led off the ninth with a double off Simas, Bobby Howry got three outs for his seventh save.

James Baldwin (11-5) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in seven innings, walking none and striking out four. Burba allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

Vizquel stole his 33rd base and 153rd of his career, tying Tris Speaker for ninth in Indians history. The shortstop also set the tone for a game that had a mix of great defensive plays -- and two errors.

He also is getting impatient that the Indians are taking so long to clinch the division.

"Some people say these games don't mean anything," Vizquel said. "I think they mean a lot. I don't think we should go into the playoffs playing like we have the last thre days."

Vizquel caught Ray Durham's popup for the first out of the game, snatch-catching it with his back to home plate to shade his eyes.

In the fifth, Vizquel made a brilliant, barehanded play on Durham's sharp chopper to his left. He grabbed the ball and snapped a throw to first in one motion just in time to get the speedy Durham.

Durham made a couple of outstanding plays of his own. He ranged far to his right to backhand Joey Cora's grounder in the first, then chased Einar Diaz's popup down the right-field line like a wide receiver and made a one-handed catch on the dead run.

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