TONIGHT IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chi White Sox (19-21) at Cleveland (30-12) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Dwight Gooden goes against James Baldwin for the second time in seven days as the Cleveland Indians open a three-game series tonight against the Chicago White Sox. Gooden (2-0, 4.64 ERA) pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed one run for Cleveland on Tuesday in a 13-0 Indians' victory for his first-ever decision against the White Sox. The Indians are 7-0 in games Gooden starts as he has surrendered three runs or less in four of those outings. In three starts at Jacobs Field this season, Gooden has 15 strikeouts and has given up 10 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings. Baldwin (2-4, 6.49) was on the wrong end of Tuesday's decision for Chicago. He was tagged for seven runs and three hits in two innings and fell to 2-3 against Cleveland. Baldwin dropped his third straight decision and has not won since April 18 against Kansas City. Cleveland opened a nine-game homestand by losing two of three games against Detroit, but avoided the sweep on Sunday with a 7-4 win on Omar Vizquel's grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. It was the Indians' fourth win in six outings. Chicago blew a four-run ninth-inning lead to the New York Yankees on Sunday and suffered an 8-7 10-inning defeat for their sixth loss in eight games. The White Sox begin a 10-game road trip tonight. The Indians swept the three-game series from the White Sox at Comiskey Park last week by a combined score of 39-16. Cleveland scored 13 runs in each game. Toronto (21-25) at Detroit (19-24) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- DETROIT (Ticker) -- David Wells starts against Brian Moehler for the second time in less than a week tonight when the Toronto Blue jays visit the Detroit Tigers to open a three-game series. Wells (4-4, 6.00 ERA) hopes to end a personal three-game skid for Toronto. Although he struck out eight, Wells surrendered six runs and nine hits over seven innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the Tigers. Over his last 23 innings, Wells has allowed 14 runs and 25 hits while recording 21 strikeouts. Wells is 5-6 lifetime against the Tigers. Moehler (4-3, 4.09) gave up three runs and six hits over six innings to pick up his first win since April 26 in Wednesday's contest. He has pitched into the seventh inning in his last five starts. The Blue Jays enter tonight with a three-game losing streak after dropping a 10-8 decision to Boston on Sunday and are just 9-21 in their last 30 contests after a 12-4 start. However, they did take two of three against the Tigers last week. The Tigers surrendered five runs in the ninth inning to Cleveland on Sunday and dropped a 7-4 decision, their eighth loss in 12 games. It was Detroit's first loss in 20 games when leading after eight innings. Texas (23-20) at Tampa Bay (22-22) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Mark Clark opposes Rolando Arrojo when the Texas Rangers battle the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the opener of a three-game series tonight. Clark (2-3, 7.58 ERA) surrendered six runs -- five earned -- and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday but did not get the decision in his first ever appearance against Tampa Bay. He is 0-1 in his last three starts and has not won since May 2 against Cleveland. Arrojo (2-4, 6.54) gave up three runs and eight hits over five innings in a 5-4 victory over Texas on Tuesday to break a personal three-game skid. The win raised his all-time record against the Rangers to 2-0. Arrojo is 0-4 in five starts at Tropicana Field this season. Texas gave up 10 first-inning runs to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and were trounced, 15-6, for its fifth loss in seven games. Ivan Rodriguez went 1-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He is batting .396 (21-for-53) during that stretch. Tampa Bay dropped its third game in four outings on Sunday, allowing four 10th-inning runs in a 4-0 loss to Anaheim. It was the Devil Rays fourth setback in five home games. Tampa Bay won two of three games against Texas last week. Boston (26-17) at NY Yankees (24-18) 7:30 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox took over first place in the American League East from the New York Yankees last week and look to hold on to it when the two teams begin a three-game series tonight. Boston won two of three games against New York at Fenway Park and hold a 1 1/2-game lead for the top spot. Righthander Brian Rose (1-0, 2.00 ERA) makes his second start in six days against the Yankees. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits in a 6-0 triumph on Wednesday in his first start of the season. This will be Rose's first appearance at Yankee Stadium. New York counters with righthander Hideki Irabu (1-2, 5.46), who looks to snap a two-game skid. He was on the losing end of Wednesday's game, surrendering five runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. During his slump, Irabu has given up seven runs and 16 hits in 10 2/3 innings. The Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday with a 10-8 victory, their sixth in seven games. Pedro Martinez became the majors' first nine-game winner and Tom Gordon converted his 50th consecutive save opportunity. New York rallied for four runs in the ninth and won on a home run by Chad Curtis in the 10th to defeat the Chicago White Sox, 8-7. The Yankees are 2-17 when trailing after eight innings and 3-0 in extra innings. They have won seven straight extra-inning contests dating back to last season. Seattle (21-22) at Minnesota (16-27) 8:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins hope to extend their season-high three-game winning streak tonight when they open a three-game series tonight with the Seattle Mariners. The Twins snapped a six-game losing streak on Friday with a 2-1 victory over the Athletics in 15 innings, then beat Oakland by the same score in 10 innings on Saturday. They did not need extra inning to compleete a three-game sweep, posting an 8-3 triumph as Marty Cordova had three hits and three RBI. Minnesota has not won four games in a row since July 24-29, 1998. Rookie righthander Dan Perkins (0-3, 9.62 ERA) starts against Seattle for the second time in seven days. He was tagged for seven runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday in a 10-1 thrashing by the Mariners. In his three starts, Perkins has allowed 19 runs and 22 hits in 13 1/3 innings. Seattle counters with Jeff Fassero (2-5, 6.60), who pitched eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and gave up four hits against the Twins on Wednesday in a 7-0 victory. The win snapped a two-game skid and was his first victory since May 5. The left-handed Fassero is 1-2 in four starts on the road and is 3-0 lifetime against Minnesota. Seattle avoided a three-game sweep Sunday with a 5-4 win over Kansas City as Ken Griffey Jr. extended his hitting streak to a career-high tying 12 games. He is batting .426 (20-for-47) during that stretch. The Martiners swept a three-game series in the Kingdome last week.  