Ramirez, Indians Respond

Sometimes it’s a good thing when Manny Ramirez is oblivious to the world.

Otherwise, he might have heard all of his critics bashing him for two days about his latest series of bonehead plays.

Tuning out boos, laughter and mean-spirited songs on the radio, Ramirez responded with three hits, including his 19th homer, two RBIs and two outstanding catches in the outfield as the Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-1, Thursday night at Cleveland.

“I don’t pay any mind to that,” said Ramirez, criticized for a truly ridiculous baserunning error in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.

The mistake--running back to first base and getting tagged out after advancing on defensive indifference--came three days after Ramirez lost a fly ball in the sun while his sunglasses remained in his back pocket.

“I really think that it bothers him,” said Manager Mike Hargrove, who wisely kept Ramirez and his .336 batting average in the lineup despite the lapses. “He’s made mention this year that he doesn’t want to let his teammates down.”

Somewhat overshadowed by Ramirez’s heroics was Charles Nagy, who had his best outing since he gave up only two hits in seven innings in St. Louis on June 15. Nagy (12-8) gave up three hits in eight innings, recording 13 ground-ball outs. He didn’t give up a hit from the fourth through the eighth, retiring 15 of 17 batters.

Nagy also was supported by homers from Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar and David Justice.

The Indians, trying to shake a slump, build momentum and stay in first place in the AL Central, won their first series since Aug. 1-3 at Texas. The two-time defending division champions are only 11-18 since Aug. 18.

Thome hit his 31st homer and first since Aug. 4, and Alomar added his career-high 16th two batters later.

Thome made it 9-1 with a run-scoring double in the eighth, and Justice added a three-run homer, his 23rd home run of the season, to complete the rout.

Matt Williams and Marquis Grissom continued to show signs of emerging from slumps. Williams ripped a run-scoring single in the third and singled and scored on Tony Fernandez’s sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 4-1.

Grissom, seemingly rejuvenated by a day off Tuesday, was one for three and hit the ball on the nose every time up except when he walked in the fourth.

New York 10, Kansas City 5--Tim Raines, in his second game back from the disabled list, capped a four-hit night with a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning to lead the Yankees at New York.

“When I’m healthy, I know I can do some things,” said Raines, who has played in only 43 games this season because of the hurt hamstring.

“My spirits are still up,” said Raines, expected to make his third consecutive start as designated hitter tonight. “I just want to be able to get in games.”

David Wells (14-5) won his fourth in a row, striking out seven in 7 1/3 innings as the Yankees won for the fifth time in six games. Gregg Olson (1-1) took the loss.

Tino Martinez drove in four runs, raising his league-leading RBI total to 113.

Oakland 12, Chicago 5--Jason Giambi and Matt Stairs each hit two-run homers and run-scoring doubles at Chicago as the A’s ended the White Sox’s four-game winning streak.

Giambi hit his 13th homer in the first inning and Stairs hit his 18th in the third. Ernie Young added his third homer, a two-run shot in the eighth, and a run-scoring single in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Buddy Groom (2-2) picked up the win with 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief. Chuck McElroy (0-2) took the loss.

Boston 6, Minnesota 1--John Valentin’s bases-loaded triple highlighted a five-run eighth inning that led the Red Sox to a rout at Boston.

It was the second loss in a row for Brad Radke (16-7), whose streak of 12 victories in 12 starts was broken last weekend by New York.

Jeff Suppan (6-1) pitched eight innings--his longest stint in the major leagues--and gave up one run on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Seattle at Baltimore--A partial power outage at Camden Yards forced postponement of the game between the Mariners and the Orioles after a delay of nearly 2 1/2 hours.

The game will be made up today as part of a doubleheader.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Tim Raines New York 4 for 5, two-run double, 3 RBIs Win TinoMartinez New York 3 for 5, 4 RBIs Win Matt Stairs Oakland 2 for 4, 2-run homer, 3 RBIs Win Jason Giambi Oakland 3 for 5, 2-run homer, 3 RBIs Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Dennis Springer Angels 9 innings, 6 hits, 1 run Win Charles Nagy Indians 8 innings, 3 hits, 1 run Win

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