BoSox Rally To Big Win Over ChiSox

July 5, 1998 / 8:27 PM EDT / CBS/AP

It only took the Boston Red Sox one day to reload.

Breaking out with their bats for the third time in four games, the Red Sox rallied after blowing an eight-run lead and beat the Chicago White Sox 15-14 on Sunday. John Valentin scored four runs and had three hits, including a tie-breaking single in the seventh inning.

The Red Sox scored 15 runs apiece in blowouts on Thursday and Friday before being shut out Saturday. The bats were back Sunday, with Troy O'Leary getting four hits and Valentin, Mike Benjamin and Darren Bragg with three each.

"I've always said, give me 15 runs and airtight defense, and I'll take my chances," pitcher Bret Saberhagen said.

Carlos Reyes (1-0) earned the victory, pitching a scoreless seventh before putting two on with no out in the eighth. All-Star Tom Gordon got his 25th save despite allowing a three-run homer to Wilfredo Cordero in the eighth.

Boston heads into the All-Star break with a 52-33 record and a growing lead over Texas in the AL wild card race. Chicago dropped to 35-51, getting a much-needed break after a disappointing first half.

Bob Howry (0-1) took the loss, but the real damage was done by Chicago starter Jaime Navarro, who allowed eight runs on nine hits in two-plus innings.

"Right now I'm not helping this team. I might take myself out of the rotation and give someone else a chance," said Navarro, who is 1-2 with an 11.34 ERA in his last four starts. "I don't want to be here. Maybe I need to go somewhere else. Maybe I'll ask to be traded."

The two teams combined to use 13 pitchers, one short of the AL record set by Cleveland and Kansas City in 1961. The 3 hour, 45 minute game included 378 pitches 59 of them in the top half of the sixth.

"I was thinking about how crazy it is," said Benjamin, who once set a major league record with 14 hits in a three-game stretch. "It's weird, but it's baseball. Baseball is an amazing game. You've never seen everything."

He almost did today. In addition to Benjamin hitting a homer a true rarity, as he hasn't done it in more than two years the game featured six wild pitches, three errors and three hit batters, one of them prompting a bench-clearing staredown.

In the second inning, all three Chicago batters grounded out to the pitcher. In the third, Ray Durham was out when he ran into his own bunt. In the sixth, Darren Lewis reached on a dropped third strike.

"I've seen so much crazy stuff," Hatteberg said. "I don't know what's going to happen next."

Boston led 10-2 and 11-3 before Chicago scored eight in the sixth. The Red Sox retook the lead when O'Leary led off with a double and Valentin singled him home.

Scott Hatteberg walked and, after Benjamin's sacrifice bunt, Donnie Sadler was ht by a pitch, loading the bases. Lewis hit a two-run double and Bragg added a sacrifice fly to make it 15-11.

The Red Sox scored five in the second inning and four in the third, thanks to consecutive homers by Hatteberg and Benjamin. Benjamin, who was playing first base in place of the injured Mo Vaughn, has nine hits in his last four games.

Lewis' fourth-inning sacrifice fly gave Boston a 10-2 lead. Chris Snopek hit his first homer of the year to make it 10-3, but O'Leary doubled in Nomar Garciaparra to give Boston an 11-3 lead after five.

Chicago sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth, getting two runs apiece on doubles by Ray Durham and Robin Ventura. Magglio Ordonez, who also led off the inning, reached on a wild pitch, took third on pitcher Derek Lowe's error and scored on Lowe's wild pitch to tie it 11-11.

We had a big lead, and all of the sudden it was tied," Boston manager Jimy Williams said. "This team could have caved in right there. ... But they didn't quit at all."

Ordonez was still jawing with Lowe on as he came around to score. The benches and bullpens emptied, but the only contact was Cordero, the former Boston outfielder, pushing Hatteberg.

Notes: Boston signed pitcher Mike Maroth, their third-round draft pick. ... Frank Thomas doubled to tie Eddie Collins for fourth on Chicago's all-time list with 265... Before singling in the third inning, Valentin's previous five hits were doubles. ... Vaughn missed his eighth consecutive game with a sore right hamstring and Reggie Jefferson missed his third consecutive game with a sore back. ... Every Boston starter had a hit except Midre Cummings, who went 0-for-5. ... Benjamin has driven in 13 runs in his last eight games. He had 13 in the previous 59 games.