Oaklands' Stein Gets 1st Win

May 17, 1998 / 12:33 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Rookie Blake Stein refused to shake.

Stein gave up a leadoff home run to Ray Durham, then two more hits before settling down to record his first major league win, an 11-3 victory by the Oakland Athletics over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

Rookie Ben Grieve hit a home run and three doubles, and Oakland tied a team record with seven doubles.

"He doesn't seem to get rattled," A's manager Art Howe said of Stein. "He's aggressive and he goes right after people."

Stein (1-1), who lost to the White Sox on May 10 in his only other major league start, gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, acquired from St. Louis in the Mark McGwire trade last year, walked one and struck out four.

Stein admitted he was nervous.

"(After Durham's homer) I said, `It's over with and let's start over,"' Stein said. "I just needed to settle down."

"You've got to allow him a mulligan in the first inning," catcher Mike Macfarlane said. "This is a good, good hitting ballclub that he's pitched well against twice. He's got to throw strikes and he did. From the second inning on, he was incredible."

Carlos Castillo (1-3), replacing demoted starter James Baldwin in the rotation, gave up seven hits and one walk in 3 2-3 innings. It was Castillo's third career start and first this year.

Grieve went 4-for-6 with two RBIs to lead Oakland's 17-hit attack off four White Sox pitchers. It was the first time Grieve had three doubles in a game since Sept. 3, 1997, which was his first major league game.

The rookie is batting .376 (38-for-101) with 12 doubles, a triple and five home runs in his last 24 games after a 2-for-25 slump.

"The offense was outstanding," Howe said. "So many guys had big nights."

Rafael Bournigal drove in three runs for the A's with an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run double in the seventh.

Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer in the Oakland first, but Chicago tied it in the bottom of the inning on Durham's leadoff homer and Frank Thomas' RBI single.

After Grieve's homer in the third made it 3-2, the A's took advantage of a White Sox error in the fourth to score two more runs.

"We have to take them in stride," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said of the errors two by rookie shortstop Mike Caruso and one by Durham.

"The main thing I have to do is learn from my mistakes," Caruso said.

With one out, Mike Blowers walked and advanced on Scott Spiezio's single. Macfarlane hit a grounder to short, forcing Spiezio at second, but second baseman Durham's throw to first was wild for an error, allowing Blowers to score. Bournigal then doubled to drive in Macfarlane.

Jason Giambi added an RBI single n the fifth and Rickey Henderson singled in the sixth and scored on Grieve's double for a 7-2 lead.

In the ninth, Henderson had an RBI single and Jason McDonald drove in a run with a groundout to make it 11-2.

Notes: Oakland's seven doubles tied a club record set Aug. 6, 1995, against Seattle. ... Oakland infielder Dave Magadan was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right hand and infielder Mark Bellhorn was called up from Triple-A Edmonton. "It's a great loss," Howe said of Magadan, who was batting .321. "He's having a nice season for us." ... Durham's leadoff homer was the third of his career and first since Aug. 6, 1997. ... Saturday's attendance of 24,024 was the second-highest of the season since Opening Day (25,358). ... Stairs' homer extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games.