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White Sox rely on big hits to spoil Tigers party

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 00:02 CDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jim Thome and Joe Crede belted two-run homers to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 5-3 victory over the Tigers in Detroit's American League home opener at Comerica Park on Monday.

Paul Konerko added a solo blast for the World Series champions White Sox, who won a second straight game to improve to 3-4 after losing four in a row.

Thome was happy to see the White Sox get key hits at the right time after some early season struggles.

"I think the hits we got, they were big," Thome told reporters.

"Those are the type of hits, when you do that, a lot of times you are going to go on top."

Freddy Garcia pitched six strong innings for the White Sox to condemn the Tigers to a second straight defeat after they won the first five games of the season.

Optimism was high among the fans in Detroit's home opener, as fans gave new manager Jim Leyland a lengthy ovation during pre-game introductions.

The fans remain upbeat throughout, but Leyland was disappointed in the result.

"You're playing the world champs and that's not a day at the beach," he said.

"They are an experienced club that can beat you in a lot of different ways."

Garcia rebounded from a poor start in his first game by allowing just three runs on five hits, with five strikeouts and two walks.

Brandon McCarthy pitched two shutout innings, allowing two hits, and Bobby Jenks pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Jeremy Bonderman took the loss, lasting seven innings and allowing four runs on six hits. He struck out eight and walked two.

Craig Monroe put the Tigers in front early with a two-run homer off Garcia in the second inning, but that was all Garcia allowed until the sixth, when hot-hitting Chris Shelton doubled in Detroit's only other run.

Thome hit his home run in the third and Crede drilled his homer in the sixth to put the Sox ahead for good.

Konerko's solo home run in the top of the eighth inning provided some insurance for the Chicago in front of a sell-out crowd of 44,179 fans.

Tadahito Iguchi and Konerko both had two hits for the Sox, who had seven in total.

Ivan Rodriguez and Monroe both had two hits for the Tigers, who also managed seven hits.

In Tampa, Erik Bedard pitched seven scoreless innings as the Baltimore Orioles spoiled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' home opener with a 6-3 win.

Bedard (2-0) allowed just four hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Three relievers finished up, including Chris Ray who pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Jay Gibbons homered, had two hits and drove in two runs for the Orioles while Miguel Tejada had three hits and an RBI.

Seth McClung (0-2) allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings and took the loss.

Toby Hall homered and had three hits and two RBI for Tampa Bay.

Source: REUTERS

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