ChiSox Take Tribe Down Town

The White Sox didn't mind seeing 13 runs on the scoreboard this time.

Rookie Chris Singleton and Brook Fordyce drove in a career-high four runs apiece Monday night, leading Chicago to a sloppy and slow 10-3 rout of the Cleveland Indians.

Last week at Comiskey Park, the Indians scored 13 runs in each game and outscored the White Sox 39-16 in sweeping through Chicago like the wind off Lake Michigan.

"This was big coming against a team that punched us to death at home last week," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "I think this was real important for a young ballclub."

Singleton, acquired during the offseason in a trade with the New York Yankees, went 3-for-5 with an RBI groundout, run-scoring single and two-run double while hitting in the No. 8 spot. Fordyce, batting ninth, homered and went 3-for-4.

The White Sox held a hitter's meeting before the game with hitting instructor Von Joshua, who told them to "relax and re-focus on what we did in spring training."

Singleton said the team took the field with a renewed confidence.

"I think there was a calm about us," Singleton said. "Last week was tough for us to lose like that. The way we did to the Indians."

Jim Thome homered for the Indians, who stranded 10 runners in the first four innings and hit into three double plays.

"We had the bases loaded three times and did not take advantage," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "We had a little bad luck."

Much of the game was played in a steady rain and was delayed for 32 minutes in the top of the fourth inning. By the time it ended after 3 hours, 26 minutes, Jacobs Field employees nearly outnumbered the remaining fans.

Rookie reliever Sean Lowe (2-0) allowed one run and four hits in 5 1-3 innings.

"He gave us a chance to win the ballgame and gave us an opportunity to rest the bullpen," Manuel said.

ooden had limited the White Sox to one hit in seven innings last week as the Indians won 13-0. But the right-hander didn't make it past the fifth and lost for the first time in eight decisions.

With the Indians scoring 9.4 runs in his previous seven starts, Gooden had not lost since dropping an 8-1 decision to the Tigers last year a span of 19 starts.

Fordyce's two-run single off the top of the left-field wall capped Chicago's four-run fifth off Gooden. Carlos Lee doubled in the White Sox's first run in the inning and Singleton brought in another with an infield single.

Gooden said he wasn't aware of his winning streak one short of his career-high.

"I didn't know about it until there were two outs in the ninth inning," he said. "It was brought to my attention. I thought there were a couple of losses in there somewhere."

Singleton hit a two-run double in the seventh off Mark Langston to put the White Sox ahead 9-2.

Thome hit his sixth homer leading off Cleveland's seventh.

Chicago starter James Baldwin, rocked for seven runs in two innings last week by the Indians, walked four of the first five batters he faced and fell behind 1-0 on Roberto Alomar's RBI groundout. But the Indians left the bases loaded as Baldwin got Travis Fryman to pop up and struck out David Justice.

The Indians let Baldwin off the hook again in the second, loading the bases but failing to score.

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