NEW YORK - The long fly ball by Frank Thomas settled into the glove of leftfielder Dave Dellucci, after it clanked high off the foul pole, way up near the upper deck.
It was a huge grand slam for Thomas off Roger Clemens, and a big win for the Chicago White Sox against the Yankees.
Magglio Ordonez followed with another long home run off the front of the centerfield bleachers as the White Sox beat up New York 13-2 Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders.
"It's very big," Thomas said. "Everybody's harping on how bad we are on the road."
Ordonez and Paul Konerko homered twice and Joe Crede also connected for Chicago, which hit six in a game for the second time this season.
Esteban Loaiza had an outstanding cutter and improved to 6-1 since the All-Star break, tying Toronto's Roy Halladay for the league lead with his 17th win. He allowed one hit in seven innings, struck out nine and left with an 11-0 lead.
Clemens made his 600th career start and had one of his worst outings, tying his high by allowing nine runs. He gave up four homers in a game for the second time in his career.
His mother, Bess, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. She had missed her son's 300th win in June because of emphysema and pneumonia.
"It was great. They should have let her stay on the mound," Clemens said. "She had better stuff than I had."
Chicago, which has won seven of eight, maintained a one-game lead over Kansas City in the Central while New York stayed five in front of Boston in the East. The White Sox, who started a six-game trip, are 43-23 at home but 27-39 on the road.
As rap music boomed in the clubhouse, the White Sox talked about the significance of winning the series opener at the team with the best record in the league.
"This was huge for us," manager Jerry Manuel said.
Before the game, he jokingly begged his players to think they were back in the Windy City.
"I got some home beds for you, whatever you need," he said.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, Clemens struck out three of his first five batters. The White Sox then built a 3-0 lead on homers by Konerko in the second and Crede in the third and Konerko's run-scoring double in the fourth.
Nothing worked for Clemens, not his fastball, not his slider, not his splitter.
"He was too fat on the plate," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
ROYALS 9, RANGERS 2: Mike Sweeney and Aaron Guiel each homered and drove in four, leading Brian Anderson and host Kansas City.
Anderson, acquired in a trade with Cleveland on Monday, turned in a solid start for the Royals, who have won seven straight against Texas since June 2, 2002.
Anderson pitched six innings, giving up two runs and four hits. He struck out three and walked none.
TWINS 3, ANGELS 0: Tampa's Brad Radke earned his first shutout of the season with a five-hitter, and Jacques Jones and Luis Rivas homered as visiting Minnesota remained 11/2 behind the White Sox and a half-game behind the Royals.
The Twins ended a seven-game losing streak against Anaheim, a skid that began with Game 2 of the League Championship Series.
BLUE JAYS 12, RED SOX 9: Vernon Wells hit a run-scoring double that keyed a five-run eighth as visiting Toronto ended Boston's five-game winning streak.
Down 12-7, the Red Sox scored one in the eighth and loaded the bases with two outs. But Manny Ramirez struck out against rookie Aquilino Lopez. Kevin Millar hit an inside-the-park homer in the ninth for Boston.
TIGERS 5, INDIANS 4: Craig Monroe and Dmitri Young homered as visiting Detroit won its second straight game for the first time in six weeks.
A's 2, ORIOLES 1 (12): Scott Hatteberg's pinch-hit single in the bottom of the 12th drove home Terrence Long with the winning run as the A's remained tied with the Mariner's for first in the West. Rookie Mike Wood picked up his second win since being called up less than a week ago.
