AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Red Sox Mark Time as White Sox Sweep

The Boston Red Sox, because of the small capacity (33,461) of Fenway Park, are one of two major league teams permitted to stage day-night doubleheaders. The Chicago Cubs are the other.

Each team is allowed to hold two-admission doubleheaders once a season. The Red Sox allowed six hours between starts Saturday in their doubleheader. It wasn’t really enough.

Rain that resulted in the postponement of Friday night’s game caused problems with the mound Saturday, and the opener of the unusual doubleheader was delayed 25 minutes.

Then, the Chicago White Sox and Red Sox played for almost five hours before Dan Pasqua singled in two runs with the bases loaded in the 14th inning to give the White Sox a 10-8 victory.

It took 20 minutes to clear the park after the first game, but because one crowd of 33,000 was leaving at the time another of 24,000 was arriving, there was a massive traffic jam outside Fenway Park.

The Red Sox would have been better off with more rain. Not only were they at the park 12 hours, they had only two defeats to show for their time.

Frank Thomas, who hit a home run in the first game, drove in three runs with a double andtwo singles and the White Sox won the second game, 7-4. Bobby Thigpen got a save in each game to run his total to 22.

One of the reasons the first game took so long was that Roger Clemens needed 44 pitches to make it through a four-run first inning. Clemens lasted six innings and was within an out of his 12th victory.

With two out in the ninth, Chicago’s Robin Ventura hit a home run against Jeff Reardon to send the game into extra innings. It was Ventura’s second home run of the game and his eighth since July 6.

“It was the longest day of my baseball career,” Thomas said. “I’ve been at the ballpark for 12 hours, but with two victories I can live with that. I’m sure the other side is tired, too.”

Minnesota 7, Milwaukee 4--Dan Gladden returned at the right time for the Twins.

For the third consecutive game at Minneapolis, Gladden was the hitting star. His three-run home run in the ninth inning broke a 4-4 tie.

In three games since coming off the disabled list, the veteran outfielder has driven in the winning run in each game. He has driven in 10 runs with five hits.

Bill Wegman (6-5) gave up the home run to Gladden, but it was his fourth consecutive complete game. It was the Brewers’ sixth loss in a row.

Left-hander Danny Neagle made his debut for the Twins. In the fourth inning, Candy Maldonado hit a line drive that hit Neagle in the left elbow. X-rays were negative.

Kansas City 5, Toronto 2--The Royals repeatedly have tried to trade Danny Tartabull. They are glad they couldn’t.

Tartabull doubled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning at Toronto. In the fourth consecutive extra-inning game between the teams, Bill Pecota singled in two more runs in the inning. Each team won twice.

Tartabull, challenging for the batting title, is hitting .331, has 22 home runs and has driven in 67 runs.

After loading the bases with none out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Jeff Montgomery got Joe Carter on a pop fly and John Olerud on a double play for his 19th save.

The Royals have scored 43 runs in their last seven games.

Oakland 9, Baltimore 1--After the Athletics gave up 17 runs in the two previous games, Joe Slusarski was a welcome sight.

Slusarski, recalled Friday, pitched a two-hitter at Baltimore and gave the bullpen a needed rest.

In his debut as the Athletics’ third baseman, Brook Jacoby went three for five, scored twice and drove in a run.

Mark McGwire, previously four for 40, went three for four and drove in three runs.

Slusarski (3-4) was making his 12th major league start.

The Athletics have scored 46 runs in 45 innings.

Cleveland 6, Seattle 1--Carlos Martinez likes the idea of batting cleanup for the Indians as long as Albert Belle bats behind him.

Martinez had a home run and three singles at Cleveland and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

“The guy who bats ahead of Albert is going to get nothing but good pitches to hit,” said Martinez, who is batting .350 in 15 games since being brought up from the minors. “They’re all afraid of him.”

In six starts in July, Charles Nagy (6-10) is 3-1 with an ERA of 1.42. He has given up only one run in his last 33 innings at Cleveland Stadium.

Texas 8, Detroit 5--In four games in a row, the Rangers had taken a lead over the Tigers only to lose.

But at Arlington, Tex., Ruben Sierra’s two-run single broke a 4-4 tie and the Rangers didn’t blow it.

Mickey Tettleton hit two home runs for the Tigers.