Snyder, Konerko Are Stars as White Sox Beat Yankees

John Snyder felt privileged to face the New York Yankees. He felt even better after beating them.

Paul Konerko hit two solo home runs Thursday, helping Snyder and the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 victory at Chicago.

“Pitching against the best, it’s an honor,” Snyder said of the defending World Series champions. “Going against the Yankees, they have so much tradition and history--it’s nice to do what I did.”

Snyder (8-6) gave up one run and three hits in seven innings. He won for the first time since being called up Friday from triple-A Charlotte.

Konerko, who has 15 home runs this season, hit his first of the game in the sixth off David Cone (10-5). Cone has not won since pitching a perfect game July 18 against the Montreal Expos.

Seattle 8, Kansas City 4--Alex Rodriguez hit the first home run of his career at Kansas City and John Halama won his eighth consecutive decision.

Rodriguez hit a 418-foot shot into the fountain behind the left-field fence in the third inning, putting the Mariners ahead for good at 3-2 and giving Rodriguez a home run in every American League park. He has 23 home runs in 268 at-bats this season.

Pitching in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, Halama (8-2) moved within one win of the team record for consecutive victories shared by Scott Bankhead (1989) and Dave Fleming (1992). He pitched five innings, giving up four runs and six hits.

Texas 3, Baltimore 1--Mike Morgan pitched six innings and allowed one run and three hits at Baltimore.

Morgan (11-6) became the 99th pitcher in baseball history to start 400 games.

Roberto Kelly, Royce Clayton and Ivan Rodriguez hit home runs for the Rangers, who expanded their lead in the American League West to a season-high nine games by winning for the 10th time in 11 games.

Colorado 4, Houston 2--Vinny Castilla hit his 21st home run and Darryl Kile boosted his trade value at Denver as the Rockies ended the Astros’ winning streak at six.

Kile (6-10), frequently mentioned in trade talks over the last month, held his former team to two runs on seven hits in eight innings.

Philadelphia 12, Florida 1--Doug Glanville homered and tied a career-high with four runs batted in, and Bobby Abreu went four for four at Philadelphia.

Around the Majors

Closer Tom Gordon of the Boston Red Sox, who last pitched June 11, probably needs season-ending elbow surgery, the pitcher told reporters. But the news was not all bad for the Red Sox. Pedro Martinez, who has not pitched since July 18 because of a sore shoulder, is expected to start Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians.