CHICAGO: A rookie big-league starter has lots to learn, like pitching in a division race, even if the race isn't his team's to win.

So, Scott Lewis got the first lesson in Pennant Fever 101 Friday night, as the Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 11-8 at U.S. Cellular Field.

With only three major-league starts on his resume coming in, it's clear that Lewis (4-0, 2.63 ERA) is far from being a finished product. Consequently, it's silly to get on his case for giving up three home runs to the team that is the league's runaway leader in homers and which plays in a ballpark the baseball gods have officially dubbed as longball heaven.

Lewis gave up six runs, but if shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hadn't committed two errors in the second inning — leading to two unearned runs — Lewis' line would have looked much better. As it is, in five innings, he allowed six hits and one walk.

''Scott wasn't as sharp tonight,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''But he still got us through five and gave us a chance to win the ballgame''

Undoubtedly, he also noticed that if the White Sox — Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye — could blast balls over the outfield wall, his teammates could do likewise, Ryan Garko in particular.

Garko hit the first grand slam of his career in the Tribe's six-run fifth inning that featured four hits, two walks and, of course, two hit batters, extending the club's major-league record total to 103 for the season.

''I looked in the dugout at Eric and [hitting coach Derek Shelton] to see if they wanted me to take a strike,'' said Garko, whose slam came on a 1-and-0 pitch. ''They said no; they just let me go.''

According to a report from the press box in Minneapolis, when news of Garko's slam reached the Metrodome, Minnesota Twins fans rose in unison to give him an ovation. And why not? On a night when the Twins were falling on their sword in an ignominious 8-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals, Garko was a prime mover in keeping the Twins in the Central Division lead by one-half game over the White Sox.

Not that Garko was taking sides. However, he also went deep to lead off the fourth inning, making it the first time in his career he had homered twice in one game.

''We have a lot of pride,'' Garko said. ''We're going to play hard for ourselves, for our manager and our coaching staff.''

As so ordered by Wedge, Garko has continued to pursue a career as an RBI specialist. With five more Friday night, he has 39 in his past 39 games and raised his total for the year to 89 in 485 at-bats. His home-run total has climbed to 14. Garko also singled and walked.

''Ryan had a great night,'' Wedge said. ''He's been having big nights. He's putting on a hell of a run down the stretch, the last seven or eight weeks. That's what we're talking about, being a big run producer. That's what we want.''

Jensen Lewis entered the game with two outs and two on in the eighth and gave up an RBI single before retiring the side. He finished out the game for his 13th save of the year.

''We don't have a chance to go to the postseason this year,'' he said. ''This is as close to the playoffs as we're going to get. So these are important games for us, too.''

Ben Francisco hit the first home run of the game for the Indians, whacking a 1-and-1 pitch over the fence in left off starter John Danks (11-9, 3.47 ERA) with one out in the first inning.

But home runs were not the only story of the game. In fact, from the White Sox perspective, from the point of view of the team that is trying mightily to play its way into the postseason, the longballs were secondary.

What likely was the most worrisome facet of the game to manager Ozzie Guillen was the deportment of his bullpen, especially D.J. Carrasco, Mike MacDougal, Ehren Wassermann and Horacio Ramirez.

Carrasco relieved Danks and walked Jhonny Peralta to load the bases before giving up the home run to Garko. He completed his outing by hitting Kelly Shoppach. MacDougal rushed to the rescue only to hit Franklin Gutierrez, but he retired the next three batters to extricate himself from trouble.

But in the sixth, MacDougal walked three, threw a wild pitch and committed a balk before giving way to Wassermann, who got the last out of the inning after walking Gutierrez to force in a run. Ramirez's impact came in the eighth, when he wild-pitched a run home after allowing singles to Cabrera and Francisco.

In total, the White Sox relief corps (including Octavio Dotel) was charged with four runs, three hits, five walks, two hit batters, two wild pitches and a balk in five innings.